Front  the 

Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 
To  the  Volga. 


FROM  THE 


Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


TO  THE 


BY  FRANCIS  C.  SESSIONS 
President  of  the  Ohio  Historical  and  Archaeological  Society 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  E.  W.  DEMING 


NEW  YORK 

WELCH,  FRACKER  COMPANY 
189O 


COPYRIGHT  1890,  BY  WELCH,  FRACKER  CO. 


From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 
to  the  Volga. 


i. 


TRAVELING    TOWARD    THE    MIDNIGHT    SUN. 

WE  left  Copenhagen  with  regret  ;  it 
was  one  of  the  most  attractive  cities 
we  had  seen.  Prince  Bonaparte,  of  France, 
arrived  at  our  hotel,  just  before  we  left,  with 
his  wife  and  five  servants.  He  had  the  pecu- 
liar Bonaparte  nose  and  features,  and  it  was 
at  least  interesting  to  look  at  the  descendant 
of  one  who  became  so  prominent  in  the 
world's  history. 

We  crossed  by  steamer  the  Malmo  Sound 
to  Malmo,  and  here  first  entered  Sweden, 
and  took  cars  for  Gottenborg.  The  coun- 
try through  which  we  pass  looks  much  like 
the  northern  part  of  Vermont  and  New 


io       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

Hampshire,  with  its  stony  fields  and  stone- 
wall fences,  red  houses  and  barns,  white 
birch  trees,  brooks,  small  lakes  full  of  water 
lilies,  white  meeting  houses,  and  the  old- 
fashioned  well-sweep  for  drawing  water, 
which  we  used  to  see  in  boyhood  days  fifty 
years  ago. 

Our  first  dinner  in  Sweden  was  peculiar  in 
finding  a  table  loaded  with  food,  and  every- 
one pitching  in  for  themselves.  There  are 
no  servants,  and  if  you  do  not  get  enough 
to  eat,  it  is  your  own  fault.  The  good- 
heartedness  of  the  Scandinavians  is  pro- 
verbial, and  it  was  first  observed  on  giving  a 
little  girl  ten  ore,  equal  to  one  cent — she 
shook  hands  with  all  of  us,  and  curtsied 
several  times. 

We  begin  at  once  to  see  why  Sweden  is 
called  the  Land  of  Three  Thousand  Lakes, 
for  we  pass  lakes  continually.  We  stop  over 
night  at  Gottenborg.  We  were  fortunate 
again  in  having  a  letter  to  another  son  of 
Professor  Sinding,  who  is  connected  with 
the  largest  cable  and  telegraph  construction 
company  in  Europe.  He  went  with  us  over 
the  city,  and  we  noticed  canals  and  bridges  in 
every  direction,  reminding  us  of  Amsterdam. 

Gottenborg  is  a  beautiful   city,  and  in  our 


To  the    Volga.  n 

ride  to  the  Oreas  Mountain,  to  get  a  view  of 
the  city  and  surrounding  country,  we  passed 
numerous  pleasant-looking  villas.  One  at 
the  foot  of  the  Oreas  is  owned  by  Oscar 
Dickson,  the  wealthiest  man  in  Scandinavia, 
who  has  fitted  out  several  scientific  expedi- 
tions to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Professor  Nor- 
denskjold  is  at  the  head  of  the  last  expedi- 
tion, and  on  account  of  his  scientific  attain- 
ments was  offered  by  King  Oscar  the  title 
of  Baronet,  which  he  refused. 

At  this  place  the  celebrated  Gottenborg 
licensing  system  was  first  adopted.  We  have 
heard  it  discussed  in  the  United  States  a 
great  deal,  and  I  was  anxious  to  know  how 
it  worked,  as  many  opinions  have  been  ex- 
pressed in  regard  to  its  effect  in  restraining 
drinking.  Our  friend,  Mr.  Sinding,  spoke 
highly  of  the  good  results,  and  said  that 
drunkenness  had  diminished  greatly.  The 
leading  feature  of  the  system  of  licensing, 
or  rather  of  non-licensing,  is  that  a  temper- 
ance company  is  formed  to  buy  licenses  and 
existing  -<ghts,  and  to  open  a  limited  num- 
ber of  s.iops  for  the  sale  of  pure  and  un- 
adulterated spirits,  and  control  the  sale  to 
proper  persons,  and  none  in  small  quantities 
to  drunkards,  the  manage/  having  no  interest 


12       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

in  the  sale  of  the  spirits.  After  deducting 
interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  on  the 
capital  expended,  the  company  hands  the 
whole  of  the  surplus  profits  over  to  the 
municipality.  Mr.  Sinding  said  the  profit 
was  large,  and  was  used  for  helping  the  poor, 
etc.,  of  the  city.  I  have  learned  its  good 
effects  in  many  of  the  cities  in  Sweden  and 
Norway,  and  I  shall  try  to  get  all  the  in- 
formation I  can  in  regard  to  it.  All  the 
larger  cities  in  Scandinavia  are  adopting  it. 

Our  train  to  Christiana  followed,  for  some 
distance,  the  Trollhatta  Canal,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  products  of  engineer- 
ing skill,  uniting  Gottenborg  and  Stockholm, 
and  uniting  the  Vennor  and  Veltor  Lakes 
with  the  Gota  River.  The  greatest  difficulty 
met  with  was  the  Trollhatta  Falls,  which  are 
a  succession  of  rapids  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  high,  one  of  the  finest  falls 
in  Sweden,  but  to  us  who  have  Niagara  and 
Yosemite  Falls,  did  not  seem  worth  hardly  a 
notice. 

The  great  Swedenborg,  who  was  a  native 
of  Stockholm,  I  believe,  was  one  of  the 
engineers  to  draw  plans  for  the  erection  of 
sluices  at  Trollhatta,  commissioned  by  King 
Karl  XII.,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 


To  the    Volga.  13 

century.  The  whole  length  of  the  canal  is 
two  hundred  and  forty  miles.  It  is  quite  a 
curiosity  to  see  the  large  steamers  going 
through  the  locks  as  if  going  up  a  steep 
precipice.  We  noticed  printed  on  our  cars 
as  follows  :  "  Gjennemgaaende  till  Christiana" 
which  means  through  to  Christiana. 

On  passing  the  line  from  Sweden  to  Nor 
way  we  notice  at  once  a  different  country, 
for  it  is  the  mountains  which  separate  Sweden 
from  Norway.  From  the  flat  country  of  the 
former  we  have  the  mountains  and  pictures- 
que views  of  the  latter.  The  houses  are 
painted  yellow.  All  the  stations  are  beauti- 
ful architectural  depots.  The  farmers  are 
cutting  their  grass,  and  the  curious  poles, 
about  eight  feet  high,  stuck  up  around  the 
meadows,  we  could  not  understand,  until  \ve 
saw  them  placing  the  cut  grass  around  them 
to  dry.  In  some  fields  long  poles  are  put 
horizontally,  and  the  hay  is  laid  upon  them 
to  dry,  the  season  being  so  wet  and  uncer- 
tain, that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  hang  up 
the  grass  so  that  the  wind  may  help  the  sun 
in  drying  it. 

Christiana,  the  capital  of  Norway,  is 
reached,  and  although  nine  o'clock  at  night, 
the  sun  is  just  setting.  Our  dinner  is  an- 


14       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

nounced,  and  we  find  a  great  variety  of  cold 
meats  and  cold  fish.  We  have  been  travel- 
ing all  day  and  are  hungry,  and  after  we  have 
fully  satisfied  our  appetites,  we  are  told  that 
the  hot  meats  are  now  ready.  Only  a  few 
could  remain  to  digest  the  hot  meats.  After- 
ward we  were  told  that  it  is  customary  in 
Norway  to  have  the  cold  meats  first. 

We  leave  Christiana  by  the  steamer  Orion, 
and  we  enjoy  the  delightful  scenery  down 
the  Christiana  Fjord  for  seventy  miles,  until 
we  come  to  the  stormy  Skagarrak.  It  is 
about  two  thousand  six  hundred  miles  to  the 
North  Cape  and  return.  The  fjords  are 
numerous.  One,  the  Trondjhem,  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  long.  A  fjord  is  an 
arm  of  the  sea  and  is  pronounced  ford.  The 
scenery  the  first  day  is  picturesque  and  grand, 
with  Christiana  in  the  background,  and 
numerous  islands  and  hills  covered  with  yel- 
low houses,  looking  in  the  distance  like  chil- 
dren's play-houses,  and  the  little  steamers 
and  sail-boats  plying  hither  and  thither.  We 
soon  come  to  Horten,  an  important  naval 
station,  where  the  fjord  is  five  miles  wide. 
In  some  places,  however,  it  is  only  five  hun- 
dred feet  wide.  It  is  a  splendid  situation  for 
a  fort,  and  well  sheltered. 


To  the    Volga.  15 

A  short  distance  from  here,  at  Gokstad 
Sandefjord,  is  the  mound  which  contained 
the  "  Viking  Galley,"  which  is  now  in  Chris- 
tiana. We  soon  leave  behind  us  the  rich, 
green  vegetation,  and  nothing  is  seen  but  the 
barren  rocks,  which  almost  touch  each  other 
from  island  to  island.  As  we  go  out  to  sea  it 
begins  to  grow  stormy  and  rough,  and  the 
old  stormy  Skagarrak  keeps  up  its  reputation. 
Most  of  the  passengers  had  left  the  deck  for 
their  berths,  only  two  of  us  remained  "  to 
fight  it  out  on  that  line,"  if  it  took  all  night. 
Soon  my  companion  succumbed,  and  rushed 
to  the  side  of  the  ship  and  showed  signs  of 
distress.  I  was  determined  to  keep  my  repu- 
tation as  a  good  sailor,  gained  by  crossing 
the  Atlantic  five  times,  and  the  English  chan- 
nel, and  the  Irish  and  North  seas  a  number 
of  times  without  being  sick,  but  at  last  old 
"  Skagarrak  "  conquered. 

We  were  glad  to  leave  the  ship  at  Eker- 
sund,  two  hundred  miles  from  Christiana, 
and  charter  a  train  on  a  little  railroad  run- 
ning across  the  promontory  twenty-eight 
miles,  and  escape  a  rougher  sea,  and  wait  the 
arrival  of  the  steamer  at  Staranger.  This 
little  road  is  built  on  purpose  to  accommo- 
date passengers  on  the  steamers,  who  want 


1 6       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

to  escape  the  most  stormy  place  to  the  North 
Cape.  Although  the  road  is  only  twenty- 
eight  miles  long,  it  is  so  crooked  that  it  took 
our  express  two  ard  one-half  hours  to  run 
the  distance. 

We  are  glad  to  get  to  this  quaint  old  city 
of  Bergen,  with  its  thirty  thousand  to  forty 
thousand  population,  and  after  getting  well 
domiciled  at  our  hotel,  make  for  the  Bergen 
bank  to  draw  some  money.  The  main  street 
is  called  "  Strandgarden."  We  are  at  once 
amused  at  the  Norwegian  dress  of  the  wo- 
men, so  odd  and  quaint,  with  their  high, 
white  caps,  and  large  white  capes,  and  new 
and  yellow  bands,  and  bright  handkerchiefs 
and  bodices,  and  heavy,  plain  woolen  dresses, 
with  full,  plain  skirts  and  wooden  shoes.  We 
get  the  wrong  direction  to  the  bank  and  step 
into  a  dry  goods  store,  and  make  out  to  ask 
them  the  way  to  the  bank,  and  they  send 
with  us  a  clerk  to  show  the  way.  On  arriv- 
ing we  find  a  splendid  banking  room.  We 
were  struck  at  the  absence  of  protection  from 
thieves  around  the  teller's  counter,  and,  look- 
ing around,  find  that  I  am  the  only  one  of 
the  customers  with  my  hat  on.  When  they 
come  into  the  bank  they  take  off  their  hats 
and  seat  themselves  on  a  bench,  until  their 


To  the    Volga.  17 

turn  comes  to  be  waited  upon  ;  no  talking, 
except  on  their  business,  and  then  only  in  a 
low  tone. 

When  my  business  wiis  finished  I  looked 
around  and  found  the  same  young  clerk  who 
had  come  in  with  me  to  show  me  back  to  my 
hotel  ;  I  tried  to  make  him  understand  that 
I  was  obliged  to  him,  but  that  I  was  going 
to  the  fish  market,  this  being  Saturday,  and 
the  greatest  fish  market  in  the  world  ;  he 
finally  shook  hands  and  left  me — everywhere 
the  people  are  so  kind  and  attentive. 

The  fish  market  is  curious  enough  ;  the 
end  of  the  harbor  comes  up  to  the  side  of 
Torvet  Square,  and  along  the  quay  are  three 
horizontal  iron  railings,  and  on  the  water 
side  the  numerous  fishing  boats  come  up, 
bows  inward,  the  fish  lying  loose  all  over  the 
boat,  and  the  owners  stand  and  barter  with 
the  customers  on  the  quay,  and  hand  down 
their  buckets  to  get  the  fish.  I  did  not  see  as 
beautiful  a  display  of  fish  even  at  the  great 
Fishery  Exhibition  at  London,  which  had 
just  been  opened  at  Hyde  Park,  when  we 
were  there. 

Here  were  all  sizes  and  colors,  some  large 
ones  resembling  in  color  our  gold  fish,  some 
with  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  ;  large, 


1 8       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

splendid  salmon;  another  like  our  white  fish, 
but  much  larger.  We  have  seen  only  one 
meat  shop  in  Bergen  ;  fish  is  cheap  and 
plentiful,  and  seems  to  be  the  main  article  of 
food.  All  along  the  wharf  were  vessels  un- 
loading their  dried  codfish,  which  were  piled 
up  like  cordwood,  filling  the  warehouses  ; 
these  fish,  we  understood,  are  shipped  to 
Spain  and  other  Catholic  countries,  where 
they  do  not  eat  meat  on  Fridays. 

On  our  walk  about  the  city  we  see  some 
terrible  scurvy-disease  covering  the  faces, 
ears,  hands,  arms  and  bodies  of  some  of  the 
people.  We  learn  that  it  is  leprosy.  This 
frightful  disease  is  prevalent  in  Norway 
among  the  peasants,  especially  on  the  coast, 
on  account  of  eating  so  much  salt-fish  with- 
out vegetables,  and  also  due  to  a  lack  of 
nourishing  food,  and  living  in  damp  houses, 
where  they  salt  the  fish.  We  passed  a  hospi- 
tal for  lepers,  and  the  lepers  are  not  allowed 
to  marry,  so  that  a  hereditary  disease  is  kept 
in  check. 

In  front  of  a  great  fur  store  we  see  skins 
of  fresh-killed  bears,  and  those  of  other  wild 
animals  ;  a  large  trade  is  done  here  in  furs. 
The  Gottenborg  temperance  plan  is  in  vogue 
here,  and  we  have  seen  only  two  drunken 


To  the    Volga.  19 

persons,  one  was  a  colored  sailor  from  Africa, 
and  he  was  more  of  curiosity  than  a  monkey 
show  the  other  side  of  the  street,  on  account 
of  his  color. 

Our  Sunday  in  old  Bergen  was  a  most  de- 
lightful one  ;  the  weather  was  cool  and  the 
sun  shown  bright,  which  is  an  unusual  thing, 
and  it  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  most 
uncertain  place  as  to  weather  in  Europe  ;  a 
pleasant  day  is  an  exception  ;  the  people 
were  out  en  Masse,  and  the  churches  were 
crowded,  judging  from  the  three  Lutheran 
churches  which  we  attended,  and  many  of  the 
worshippers  had  to  stand  up. 

We  could  not  understand  a  word  the  priest 
(the  ministers  are  all  called  priests  in  Scandi- 
navia) said,  but  he  had  an  earnest,  scholarly 
manner,  and  held  the  attention  of  the  audi- 
ence closely  to  the  end  ;  he  wore  a  gown  and 
had  on  a  high,  wide  ruffle,  which  made  him 
look  like  the  old  pictures  of  John  Huss  or 
Calvin.  The  ritual  was  simple  ;  almost  the 
whole  service  was  sung,  even  the  scripture 
was  monotoned.  The  precentor,  in  a  black 
frock  coat,  stood  on  one  side  of  the  priest 
and  faced  toward  him  instead  of  the  choir 
and  congregation  ;  the  singing  was  slow  and 
drawling. 


20       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

I  learn  that  there  are  scarcely  any  churches 
in  Norway  or  Sweden,  but  the  state  churches, 
which  are  orthodox  Lutheran,  and  religion 
seems  to  have  a  strong  hold  upon  the  people. 
The  priests  are  state  officials,  and  are  paid  to 
perform  prescribed  duties  by  the  state,  and 
they  must  be  graduates  of  a  university. 

After  the  communion  service  there  was  a 
large  number  of  babies  presented  for  bap- 
tism. The  priest,  after  reading  the  ritual, 
went  around  and  made  the  sign  of  the  cross 
with  his  hands  over  the  face  of  each  babe,  and 
then  he  went  around  and  blessed  each  one  ; 
then  the  mothers  came  forward  to  the  front, 
and  he  read  the  covenant  to  them,  and  took 
water  in  his  hands  and  poured  it  over  the 
head  of  the  child  three  times,  and  said, 
"  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 

We  noticed,  as  we  visited  the  cemetery,  to 
see  the  grave  of  Ole  Bull,  who  was  a  native 
of  Bergen,  and  was  buried  here,  that  there 
was  a  large  number  of  women  and  girls 
washing  off  the  monuments  and  gravestones, 
and  placing  beautiful  bouquets  of  flowers 
upon  the  graves.  We  understand  this  is  the 
pleasant  custom  every  Saturday  night 
through  the  summer,  and  in  the  winter 
evergreens  are  used,  Roses  and  flowers  had 


ICELANDKRS. 


To  the    Volga.  21 

just  made  their  appearance  this  summer,  and 
this  was  the  first  Sunday  for  flower  decorat- 
ing this  year  ;  and  more  than  usual  attention 
was  given  to  mowing  the  grass  and  making 
everything  attractive  for  the  masses  who 
visit  the  hallowed  spot  on  Sunday.  Ole 
Bull's  grave  was  in  the  center  of  the  ceme- 
tery, .vhere  walks  extend  from  east  to  west 
and  north  to  south.  There  was  no  stone  to 
mark  his  grave,  but  the  earth  was  raised 
over  it,  and  it  \vas  covered  with  English  ivy, 
and  on  the  top  was  a  beautiful  bouquet  and 
a  number  of  white  pond  lilies. 

We  had  a  beautiful  sun,  although  at  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  and  I  never  saw  the  sky, 
even  in  Italy,  more  soft  and  mellow. 

On  our  way  to  the  hotel  we  noticed  the 
servant  girls  were  scouring  the  brass  knobs 
of  the  doors  and  washing  the  entrances. 
This  is  also  the  custom  every  Saturday  night. 

We  never  saw  such  beautiful  calceolarias 
and  pelargoniums  as  are  at  the  windows  of 
almost  every  house.  As  we  passed  up  the 
most  beautiful  street  for  private  residences, 
there  were  many  villas  high  up  on  the 
mountain  side,  overlooking  the  two  lakes 
and  the  fjord.  The  street  is  called  "  King 
Oscar's  Garden,"  and  the  flags  were  flying 


From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


from  the  residences  of  the  different  con- 
suls residing  on  the  street ;  and  from  a 
beautiful  villa  we  noticed  the  stars  and 
stripes,  which  looked  to  us  more  beautiful 
than  ever  in  comparison  v/ith  the  others  ; 
and  then  it  reminded  us,  in  this  far  off  land, 
of  our  home,  and  we  took  off  our  hats  in  re- 
verence of  the  old  flag. 

The  little  dun-colored  Norwegian  horses, 
more  like  ponies,  are  very  tough  and  intelli- 
gent, and  when  you  go  past  them,  one  feels 
like  patting  them>  they  look  at  one  so  re- 
sponsively.  When  the  driver  stops  them  in 
the  street,  and  wishes  to  leave  them,  he 
fastens  a  cord  to  the  cariole  and  then  around 
the  horse's  foot,  just  below  the  fetlock.  We 
had  quite  an  experience  in  ordering  a  cariole 
for  an  evening  ride.  We  wanted  one  with 
one  horse  and  places  for  two  persons,  instead 
of  that  we  found  at  the  door  of  the  hotel  one 
cariole  with  two  horses  and  seats  for  four 
persons,  and  one  cariole  with  one  horse  and 
for  one  person.  The  liveryman  thought  we 
ought  to  take  them  as  they  were  ordered  the 
day  before,  and  were  in  great  demand.  We 
had  the  pleasure,  therefore,  of  inviting  our 
party  to  take  an  evening  ride  with  us  ;  so 
much  for  not  speaking  the  language. 


To  the    Volga.  23 

The  ride,  by  steamer,  among  the  thousands 
of  islands,  with  the  bare  rocks  and  curious 
shapes,  some  as  high  as  three  thousand  feet, 
and  the  water  falls,  are  almost  as  grand  as 
the  Yosemite  valley,  in  California,  and  as 
picturesque  as  Lake  George,  in  our  own 
country,  and  Lake  Lucerne  in  Switzerland  ; 
and  all  this  scenery  continues  along  the  coast 
of  one  thousand  miles.  We  stop  at  several 
fishing  towns,  and  get  off  the  steamer  to  take 
a  look  at  the  natives.  The  women  all  look 
sad  and  bent  over,  with  their  eyes  cast  on  the 
ground,  high  cheek-bones  and  low  foreheads, 
and  wear  coarse  flannel  dresses  and  high- 
colored  shawls  upon  their  heads. 

Some  of  the  towns  are  situated  on  three  or 
four  islands,  and  little  steamers  go  and  come, 
which  give  them  the  appearance  of  a  minia- 
ture Venice.  We  are  glad  to  come  to 
Throndhjem,  and  remain  three  or  four  days, 
and  take  excursions  into  the  country,  and  can 
well  unite  with  the  old  song,  "  Det  er  saa  in 
ferest  in  Throndhjem  hvile,"  "  'Tis  so  plea- 
sant in  Throndhjem  to  dwell."  It  is  about 
the  latitude  of  southern  Iceland,  and  the 
largest  northernmost  town  in  Europe,  and  has 
a  population  of  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
thousand. 


24       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

Throndhjem  was  the  old  capital  of  Norway 
until  the  liberation  in  1814  ;  it  lies  on  a  pen- 
insula, and  on  the  beautiful  fjord,  after  which 
it  is  named,  and  which  we  had  just  come  up. 
The  cathedral  here  is  the  oldest  and  finest  in 
Scandinavia,  and  is  built  on  the  spot  where 
Saint  Olaf  was  buried,  and  attracts  to  this  place 
multiudes  of  pilgrims  from  Norway  and  other 
countries.  Olaf  landed  here  in  A.  D.  995,  he 
found  the  people  pagans  ;  having  himself 
been  converted  through  English  missionaries, 
he  came  to  Norway  from  that  land  and  set 
about  converting  the  people,  and  to  him  is 
given  the  credit  of  converting  the  Norwe- 
gians to  the  Christian  religion. 

Olaf  was  killed  in  a  great  battle  fought 
near  here  in  1030,  and  he  has  been  ever  since 
regarded  as  the  patron  saint  of  the  Scandi- 
navian churches  ;  and  Christianity  became 
permanently  and  securely  fixed  in  spite  of 
the  political  and  religious  disturbances.  The 
great  cathedral  erected  to  his  memory,  and 
having  been  several  times  nearly  destroyed, 
is  being  restored.  In  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  the  kings  of  Norway  were 
buried  here  ;  by  the  Constitution  of  Norway 
all  the  sovereigns  of  the  country  are  required 
to  come  to  Throndhjem  to  be  crowned  in  the 


To  the   Volga.  25 

cathedral.  Oscar  II.,  the  present  King,  and 
the  Queen  came  here  in  1873,  and  the  cere- 
mony was  performed  in-  this  old  cathedral  ; 
thus  the  memory  of  Saint  Olaf  is  kept  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  the  people.  Our  courier  in- 
formed us  that  Longfellow  spent  some  time 
in  Norway,  and  translated  a  poem,  which,  if 
I  remember  correctly,  was  entitled,  "  Saint 
Olaf."  The  first  line  of  one  verse  is 
"  Saint  Olaf,  he  rideth  over  the  plain." 

The  views  from  the  mountain  called  Bloese- 
voldbakken,  which  we  ascended,  rewarded  us 
well  for  the  tiresome  walk,  as  did  also  a 
walk  to  a  beautiful  waterfall,  called  Lerfos, 
upper  and  lower. 

The  United  States  Consul  informs  us  that 
the  exportations  from  the  United  States  are 
increasing,  and  consist  mostly  of  petroleum 
and  agricultural  machines,  and  other  articles 
are  finding  their  way  here  ;  I  noticed  our 
steamer  unloading  at  one  of  the  docks  kegs 
of  paint  marked  "  Gloucester,  Mass." 

The  words  of  the  Norwegian  language 
seem  so  long  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
pronounce  them,  and  some  seem  odd  enough 
to  us  ;  over  a  book  store  was  a  sign  with, 
"  Bog-og  Papierhandle,"  on  it,  which  means 
Book  and  Paper  Store. 


26       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

The  living  at  the  hotels  is  abundant  ;  we 
have  several  kinds  of  fish  at  every  meal  and 
various  kinds  of  meat,  including  bear  and 
reindeer  flesh.  The  air  is  cool  and  bracing, 
and  one  feels  ready  to  do  full  justice  at 
every  meal. 

After  passing  through  an  infinity  of  small 
islands,  we  come  to  an  island  called  Torgen, 
with  a  mountain  called  Torghatta  (marked 
hat).  The  mountain,  eight  hundred  feet  high, 
resembles  a  hat  ;  our  steamer  stops,  that  all 
who  desire  may  ascend  and  observe  an  aper- 
ture through  the  mountain  ;  it  is  about  sixty- 
two  feet  high,  and  one  can  see  through  the 
aperture  the  distant  sea  with  the  vessels  and 
shipping. 


To  the  Volga.  27 


II. 


THE  TORGHATTA  MOUNTAINS.   LAPLAND.   HAM- 
MERFEST.   CHARACTER  OF  THE  LAPS. 

'T^HERE  is  a  legend  connected  with  Tor- 
ghatta  Mountain  which  represents  "a 
giantess  who  was  pursued  by  her  lover  while 
her  brother  attempted  to  rescue  her.  The 
torghatta,  or  hat,  of  the  latter,  having  been 
pierced  by  an  arrow  shot  by  the  amorous 
lover,  the  sun  shone  through  the  aperture, 
and  metamorphosed  the  distressed  maiden 
into  stone — the  pursuer  being,  at  this  junc- 
ture, only  one  hundred  and  five  miles  away  !  " 
In  passing  the  giantess  the  natives  sometimes 
raise  their  hats  with  mock  ceremony. 

At  one  place  a  bride  and  groom  came 
aboard,  and  a  large  number  of  boats  with 
young  people  accompanied  them  to  the 
steamer.  It  was  a  gay  scene,  as  the  steamer 
departed,  to  see  the  girls  flirt  their  handker- 
chiefs with  the  words  "  Farvell  !  farvell  !  " 
The  word  is  spelled  with  a  v  j  there  is  no  w 


28       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

in  the  Norwegian  language,  and  v  is  used  in- 
stead. 

At  Svolvaer,  a  fishing  town,  we  go  ashore, 
and  find  only  a  few  houses  on  the  rocks,  and 
all  over  the  town  are  posters  announcing  a 
theatre.  We  inquire  for  the  theatre,  and  are 
pointed  to  a  tent  ;  the  performance  is  unique 
enough,  and  is  easily  moved  from  place  to 
place  for  the  amusement  of  the  poor  fisher- 
men and  their  families. 

All  these  towns  are  occupied  by  the  families 
of  fishermen  who  are  off  to  the  Lofodon  Is- 
lands and  other  places.  We  have  on  board 
two  officials  of  the  Norwegian  Government, 
who  are  intelligent,  and  give  us  much  valu- 
able information.  In  speaking  of  these  fisher- 
men, one  of  the  officials  said,  at  one  of  the 
islands  he  called  on  the  priest,  where  there 
was  a  small  church,  and  inquiring  in  regard 
to  his  success,  the  priest  replied:  "Our 
church  and  our  cemetery  are  occupied  by 
women  and  children.  You  go  into  the  latter, 
and  you  will  only  see  the  graves  of  women 
and  children  ;  all  the  men  are  drowned  at 
the  fisheries  ;  sometimes  as  large  a  number 
as  five  hundred  will  be  lost  at  one  time  in  a 
terrible  storm." 

We  soon  arrive  in  Lapland,  and  a  number 


To  the    Volga.  29 

of  Laps  come  on  board,  and  are  a  great 
curiosity  to  us  all.  They  say  that  they  have 
only  a  small  herd  of  reindeer,  and  have  just 
come  over  from  Sweden.  Their  dress  is  of 
reindeer  skins,  and  is  very  peculiar,  quite  as 
odd  as  the  dress  of  Indians.  There  are  about 
twenty  thousand  Laplanders  in  Norway,  and 
in  all  Scandinavia  only  thirty  thousand.  It 
seems  as  if  they  are  dwindling  away  as  fast 
as  the  Indians  of  North  America.  The  Laps 
once  dominated  the  whole  of  Scandinavia. 
They  were  once  a  race  of  hunters,  and  the 
reindeer  is  the  whole  source  of  their  wealth, 
and  was,  no  doubt,  formerly  an  object  of 
chase  only. 

We  arrive  at  Tromsoe,  the  capital  of  Lap- 
land, and  take  a  walk  through  the  old  town, 
but  defer  our  visit  to  their  camp  and  herds  of 
reindeer  until  our  return  from  the  land  of  the 
midnight  sun. 

We  have  been  remaining  up  all  night  to 
witness  the  sun,  that  does  not  go  below  the 
horizon  in  this  region  for  nearly  three 
months — from  May  to  August — and  does  not 
appear  for  nearly  three  months  in  the  winter; 
it  is  dark  from  December  first  until  the  last 
of  January,  so  that  lamps  have  to  be  used  all 
the  time.  When  light  comes,  they  celebrate 


30       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


it  with  firing  of  guns,  dancing  and  a  general 
holiday.  There  has  been  no  darkness  since 
we  entered  the  Arctic  circle  ;  indeed,  for 
.several  days  we  could  see  to  read  all  night. 
At  Tromsoe  we  sat  up  all  night  to  watch  the 
sun,  and,  as  it  does  not  set,  we  expected  to 
see  it  ;  but  the  mountains  intervened,  and  we 
did  not  see  it  at  twelve  midnight,  but  could 
see  its  rays  on  all  the  distant  mountains  in 
the  wrest,  and  on  the  hill  sides.  It  had  a  pe- 
culiar rosy  hue,  and  was  one  of  the  most  at- 
tractive views  in  our  life.  We  did  not  get  a 
view  <3f  the  sun  itself  until  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning. 

We  arrive  at  Hammerfest,  the  most  north- 
ern town  in  Europe,  or,  I  believe,  in  the 
world,  and  leave  at  once  for  the  North  Cape, 
and  remain  up  all  night,  and  at  twelve  mid- 
night the  Captain  sounds  the  whistle,  and 
the  sun  is  about  twice  the  size  of  its  disc 
above  the  horizon,  a  shout  goes  up,  and  we 
have  a  splendid  view  of  the  midnight  sun, 
and  are  well  satisfied  with  our  journey  of 
nearly  five  thousand  miles  to  see  it. 

The  sun  at  twelve  midnight  was  one  half  a 
point  east  of  north  ;  it  seemed  to  move  along 
the  horizon  for  awhile  and  then  commenced 
rising  in  the  heavens.  We  steam  along  with 


To  the   Volga.  31 

intense  interest  for  North  Cape,  watching  the 
sun  all  the  time.  We  cannot  express  our 
feelings,  all  is  hushed  in  silence.  Carlyle 
revels  in  the  idea  that  "  while  all  nations  are 
asleep,  we  stand  here  in  the  presence  of  that 
great  power  which  will  wake  them  all." 

Each  one  has  his  own  peculiar  thoughts, 
and  much  has  been  written,  but  words  fail  to 
express  our  individual  sensation.  We  have 
read  and  studied  in  our  geography,  half  a 
century  ago,  that  in  this  part  of  the  world 
the  sun  shone  all  the  time  for  six  months, 
and  darkness  reigned  for  six  months,  but  it 
is  a  little  less  than  three  months. 

We  soon  reach  the  North  Cape,  and  go 
ashore  in  our  little  boats  to  ascend  the  cape, 
which  is  about  one  thousand  feet  high.  The 
ascent  is  steep  and  rugged.  Creeping,  some- 
times on  our  hands  and  knees,  with  singular 
feelings  about  the  region  we  are  in,  we  get 
to  the  top  and  walk  about  three  miles  to  the 
end  of  the  promontory  over  the  rocky  ascent, 
until  we  look  off  toward  that  great  unknown 
Arctic  ocean,  and  it  seems  as  if  we  had  come 
to  the  end  of  the  earth,  and  were  gazing  upon 
the  confines  of  the  eternal  regions,  that  we 
saw  in  the  distance  the  outlines  of  the  land  of 
which  it  is  said  "there  is  no  night  there." 


32       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sitn 

We  are  told  that  we  are  only  two  days'  sail 
from  the  original  ice,  and  that  three  days' 
sail  will  take  us  as  far  north  as  where  the 
Jeanette  was  lost.  On  the  top  was  a  monu- 
ment, erected  to  the  memory  of  the  time,  in 
July,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-three, 
when  King  Oscar  II.  visited  the  place.  It 
was  a  granite-shaft  seven  feet  high,  imbedded 
in  a  strong  stone  wall.  Last  winter  it  was 
blown  over,  showing  the  great  power  of  the 
wind  here. 

We  take  a  last  look  at  the  ocean,  and  a 
Russian  steamer  is  in  view,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  hunting  for  whales.  A  few  other 
fishing  boats  are  seen.  On  our  way  down  we 
gather  some  twenty  varieties  of  arctic  flowers, 
some  very  beautiful,  and  the  ladies  take  them 
to  press  as  a  memento  of  this  visit. 

When  we  arrive  at  the  ship  the  fishing 
lines  are  out,  and  those  that  remained  had 
their  own  sport  fishing  for  flounders.  We 
have  had  flounders  for  breakfast,  flounders 
for  dinner,  and  flounders  for  supper  ;  and  we 
expect,  when  we  get  on  the  sea,  from  all  ac- 
counts of  the  roughness  of  the  voyage  around 
the  cape,  we  shall  get  floundered  all  night,  or, 
rather,  I  forgot  there  is  no  night  here.  We 
have  got  about  used  to  sleeping  during  the 


To  the    Volga.  33 

time  that  it  is  day  here,  and  watching  the  sun 
when  it  is  night  with  us  in  America. 

We  stop  at  the  Norpolanhotel  (North  Pole 
Hotel),  and  the  fishy  smell  all  over  the  old 
town  of  Hammerfest  is  terrible  to  endure. 
About  fifty  fishing  vessels  are  starting  off  for 
the  fisheries,  and  it  is  an  interesting  sight. 
Such  jabbering  and  talking  is  jargon  itself. 
On  the  high  rocks  on  shore  are  the  women 
and  children  of  the  fishermen,  watching  their 
fathers  and  brothers,  who  may  never  return, 
depart. 

There  are  large  herds  of  reindeer  near  here, 
and  the  laps  are  about  the  town,  selling  their 
reindeer  shoes,  and  other  things  peculiar  to 
their  habits. 

This  town  of  Hammerfest  was  a  scene  of 
British  arrogance  in  1853.  It  seems  that 
some  English  merchants  here  wanted  to  get 
some  of  their  goods  into  port  for  less  than 
the  duty,  and  the  authorities  confiscated 
them.  After  considerable  talk  in  Parliament, 
two  men-of-war  were_  sent  here,  and  de- 
manded of  the  authorities  sixty  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  or  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  dollars,  else  they  would  bombard 
the  town.  Finally,  the  Norze  bank,  in 
Christiana,  agreed  to  advance  the  money  and 


34       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


save  the  town,  and  they  were  to  pay  so  much 
per  year.  It  was, a  great  sacrifice  for  so  poor 
a  town. 

We  leave  this  wonderful  region  with  regret ; 
it  would  be  delightful  to  stay  and  see  the 
sun  in  its  present  condition  for  .weeks,  and 
visit  the  fishing  places  in  the  vicinity.  Fish- 
ing is  the  entire  income,  and  when  the  fish 
fail  the  people  are  poor  enough  ;  last  year 
was  a  bad  season  and  the  whole  business  of 
Norway  is  affected  by  it.  From  all  accounts 
the  fishermen  of  Spitzbergen  have  struck  a 
''bonanza."  Report  has  just  come  that  five 
fishermen  from  Hammerfest  had  shot  five 
hundred  seals  in  eighteen  hours,  and  could 
have  taken  more,  but  their  guns  became  too 
hot.  The  men  lie  flat  on  the  ice  and  when 
the  seals'  heads  appear  above  the  water  shoot 
them. 

I  take  another  look  at  the  North  Cape  and 
call  to  mind  the  words  of  our  own  Long- 
fellow : 

"  And  there  uprose  before  me 
Upon  the  water's  edge, 
The  huge  and  haggard  shape 
Of  that  unknown  North  Cape, 
Whose  form  is  like  a  wedge." — 

which  seems  to  stand  like  a  rocky  battlement 


To  the    Volga.  35 

against  the  dashing  water  from  the  North 
Pole. 

Our  visit  to  the  camp  of  the  Laplanders 
from  Tromsoe  was  exceedingly  interesting  ; 
we  walked  over  a  rough  country  for  some 
distance,  and  in  a  valley  under  the  mountains 
came  suddenly  upon  their  huts  ;  they  are 
made  of  sticks  stuck  in  the  ground,  dome- 
shaped,  and  covered  with  sod,  with  a  hole  in 
the  top  to  let  out  the  smoke  from  the  fire  in 
the  center  over  which  a  pot  is  suspended. 

We  peeped  in  and  all  looked  so  forbidding 
that  we  hesitated  to  go  in,  for  fear  of  fleas 
and  dirt.  Around  the  wigwam  or  hut  sat 
several  women  at  work  making  shoes  of  rein- 
deer hides,  spoons  of  their  horns,  purses  and 
various  articles  to  sell.  The  dogs  were  hav- 
ing a  fight  and  things  did  not  look  inviting, 
but  I  ventured  in  and  was  glad  enough  to 
retreat  at  once. 

A  short  distance  from  the  encampment  was 
a  herd  of  reindeer  numbering  four  or  five 
hundred,  and  another  drove  was  coming 
down  the  mountains  ;  they  were  a  great  curi- 
osity to  us,  with  their  long  horns,  and  looked 
much  like  our  deer,  only  larger  ;  they  are 
mainly  used  for  their  milk,  and  are  milked 
twice  a  week,  and  their  milk  is  the  chief  food 


36       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

of  the  Laps.  We  tasted  some  of  it  and  found 
it  too  strong  to  drink  without  diluting  with 
water.  We  did  not  get  a  sledge  ride  after 
reindeer,  on  account  of  the  snow  being  want- 
ing, but  we  saw  some  of  their  sledges  which 
are  made  in  the  shape  of  a  small  boat  or 
skiff.  The  reindeer  are  attached  to  the 
sledge  and  the  Lap  drives  with  a  rope,  and 
from  all  accounts  the  ride  must  be  an  exhil- 
erating  one. 

The  Laps  in  this  encampment  own  about 
five  or  six  thousand  reindeer,  they  are  worth 
about  four  dollars  each  and  are  scattered 
about  the  mountains  in  different  herds  ;  when 
they  are  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  pen  they 
present  an  interesting  sight,  as  they  wind  their 
way  up  the  mountain,  with  the  dogs  keeping 
them  from  running  away,  and  the  unearthly 
screeches  of  the  Laps  add  zest  to  the  scene. 

The  Laplanders  are  of  Mongolian  type, 
small  of  statue,  high  cheek  bones,  low  fore- 
head, light  hair,  small  boned  and  little  mus- 
cles. The  dress  of  the  men  and  women  is 
the  same,  and  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
them  apart — the  only  way  to  do  so  was  from 
the  longer  tangled  hair  of  the  women. 

We  were  quite  interested  in  a  little  blue- 
eyed  baby,  strapped  into  a  kind  of  birch- 


To  the    Volga.  37 

bark  cradle  or  shell,  with  a  hole  at  one  end  ; 
the  shape  was  like  an  elongated  egg,  and  the 
mother  had  a  strap  across  her  back  and  held 
it  in  that  way  while  about  her  work  or  when 
going  from  camp  to  camp. 

The  girls  have  a  primitive  way  of  weaving 
fancy-colored  garters  to  sell  ;  they  attach  a 
cord  to  a  white  birch  bush,  and  drop  down 
upon  the  ground,  with  the  different  colored 
threads  in  their  hands,  the  work  is  all  done 
with  the  hands,  no  shuttle,  and  the  ladies 
thought  it  quite  ingenious. 

Their  dress  is  of  reindeer  skins,  trimmed 
with  bright  red  flannel,  with  a  long  frock 
reaching  to  their  knees,  with  a  belt  around 
the  waist,  in  which  they  carry  a  knife  ;  they 
wear  a  round  cap  made  of  reindeer  skins, 
which  is  also  trimmed  with  red  flannel. 

They  are  a  dirty,  filthy-looking  people, 
and  look  as  if  they  never  used  ablutions. 
They  seemed  as  much  interested  in  the  dress 
of  the  ladies  of  our  party  as  we  were  in  theirs, 
and  they  would  walk  around  the  ladies,  point- 
ing to  each  other  at  what  seemed  to  amuse 
them,  and  asking  for  pins. 

We  understand  from  a  missionary,  who  was 
on  our  steamer,  that  the  Government  of  Nor- 
way sends  teachers  and  preachers  among 


38       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

them,  and  they  are  doing  all  they  can  to  ele- 
vate them  ;  they  have  their  children  all  con- 
firmed by  the  Lutheran  missionaries,  but  as 
they  are  continually  wandering  about  from 
place  to  place,  it  is  difficult  to  make  much 
impression  in  civilizing  them.  They  are 
allowed  to  intermarry  with  the  Swedes  and 
Norwegians,  and  in  time  may  become  entirely 
extinct  as  a  race  ;  a  great  change  from  the 
powerful  race  which  once  dominated  the 
whole  of  Scandinavia.  They  are  an  honest 
people,  and  farmers  say  they  never  intrude. 

In  Sweden  and  Finland  the  Laps  are  usu- 
ally divided  into  fisher,  mountain  and  forest 
Laps  ;  the  latter  two  are  the  true  representa- 
tives of  the  race.  In  Norway  they  are  classed 
as  sea  Laps,  river  Laps  and  mountain  Laps  ; 
the  first  two  settled,  the  last  wandering  or 
nomadic.  Their  habits  are  most  conserva- 
tive, and  can  hardly  have  altered  since  the 
far  distant  time  when  they  first  tamed  the 
reindeer.  Reindeer  form  the  chief  wealth  of 
the  Laps,  and  Thompson's  lines  may  still  be 
taken  as  an  accurate  description  of  the  uses 
to  which  their  skins  and  horns  are  put,  al- 
though one  would  think  spoons  more  likely 
than  cups  to  be  carved  out  of  the  latter  ;  but 
then  where  would  a  great  deal  of  poetry  be 


To  the    Volga.  39 

if  the  poet  could  not  draw  on  his  poetic 
license  at  pleasure  ;  perhaps,  however, 
Thomson  alluded  to  the  milk — 

"  The  reindeer  form  their  riches  ;  these  their  tents, 
Their  robes,  their  beds,  and  all  their  homely  wealth 
Supply  ;  their  wholesome  food  and  cheerful  cups." 

The  mountain  Laps  have  learned  to  drink 
coffee  and  wear  stout  Norwegian  cloth,  but 
they  set  as  much  store  by  the  reindeer  as 
ever.  A  poo*-  family  will  have  fifty  and  up- 
ward in  a  herd,  the  middle  classes  three  hun- 
dred to  seven  hundred,  and  the  richest  one 
thousand  or  more.  The  reindeer  is  as  be- 
loved by  the  Lap  as  his  pig  by  the  Irishman, 
and  the  reindeer  often  sleep  in  his  hut  in 
much  the  same  fashion.  The  Lap  will  whis- 
per to  his  reindeer  when  harnessing  him  to 
his  sleigh,  and  will  tell  him  where  he  is  to  go, 
and  declares  he  understands  him.  The  rein- 
deer is  much  like  a  stag,  only  smaller  ;  all  the 
people,  animals  and  trees  in  Lapland  are 
very  diminutive,  the  men  are  mostly  under 
five  feet  high,  and  the  women  under  four  feet 
nine  inches  ;  so  great  are  the  rigors  of  the 
climate  in  this,  as  in  all  countries  under  the 
Arctic  circle,  the  cows,  sheeg  and  goats  are 


4O       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

all  small  in  proportion.  In  summer  the  rein- 
deer feed  upon  grass,  and  give  excellent 
milk  ;  in  winter  they  feed  upon  moss,  which 
they  scratch  up  under  great  depths  of  snow 
with  marvellous  instinct. 


To  the    Volga. 


III. 

THE    REINDEER.       DRESS    AND    HABITS    OF    THE 
NATIVES.       PEASANT    LIFE    IN    THE    VALLEYS. 

WHEN  winter  draws  near  great  numbers 
of  reindeer  are  killed  and  the  flesh  is 
dried  and  smoked  to  provide  when  the  ground 
is  covered  with  snow,  and  but  few  birds,  like 
ptarmigan,  partridges  and  caper-cailzie,  are 
met  with  ;  the  flesh  is  very  nutritious,  and 
after  a  course  of  grass-feeding  it  is  surprising 
how  soon  the  reindeer  become  fat  and  plump. 
The  skin  makes  their  dresses  and  boots,  the 
sinews  their  thread  and  fishing-lines,  and  the 
horns  their  spoons  and  domestic  utensils  ; 
their  utensils  are  not  all  horn  ;  the  Laps  have 
always  some  kettles  of  copper  and  iron,  and 
sometimes  also  bowls  of  wood  and  tin  ;  and 
among  the  rich  they  are  even  of  silver. 

The  wandering  Laps  usually  live  in  rude 
huts,  formed  of  trees  or  poles,  in  the  shape 
of  a  cone,  with  an  opening  in  the  center  to 
allow  the  smoke  to  escape,  and  a  few  mats 


42       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

are  spread  on  the  floor.  Each  side  of  the 
fire-place  is  divided  into  three  chambers, 
separated  by  mats  or  skins,  the  innermost 
for  husband  and  wife,  the  next  for  the  chil- 
dren, and  the  outer  for  servants.  When  the 
family  is  too  poor  to  have  servants  they  often 
find  room  for  some  reindeer. 

The  winter  dwellings  are  much  more  sub- 
stantial, and  are  roofed  with  beams,  on  which 
are  hung  the  dried  cakes  of  reindeer  flesh, 
while,  outside,  the  huts  are  covered  with 
bushes  and  earth.  The  door  is  very  low  and 
small,  and  can  only  be  entered  by  crawling 
on  the  hands  and  knees.  The  windows  are 
made  from  the  intestines  of  seals,  prepared 
and  sewed  together.  The  furniture  is  very 
primitive.  Such  as  it  is,  it  is  made  by  the 
men,  who  also  do  the  cooking,  and  make  the 
boats  and  sleighs,  skiddor,  or  snow  shoes,  and 
the  bows  and  arrows.  Sometimes  these  win- 
ter-huts are  made  large  enough  to  contain  a 
dozen  families,  the  separation  being  effected 
by  curtains  of  skins. 

The  Lap,  as  he  appears  in  his  own  country, 
is  very  different  from  many  of  the  pictures  so 
familiar  to  us.  His  usual  dress  consists  of 
dirty  old  reindeer  pelts  and  a  filthy  peaked 
cap.  In  winter,  all  the  dress  is  made  of  rein- 


To  the    Volga.  43 

deer  skins,  except  the  cap,  which  is  made  of 
cloth,  and  shaped  like  a  sugar-loaf. 

The  dress  of  the  men  and  women  is  much 
alike.  They  wear  their  hair  long  and 
straight,  falling  down  the  sides  of  the  head 
and  back  ;  and  as  beards  and  whiskers  are 
never  seen,  it  is  usual  to  distinguish  between 
men  and  women  by  the  boots.  The  men 
wear  long  and  the  women  short  ones.  The 
costume  is  in  the  "  Bloomer  "  style,  and  con- 
sists of  a  short  coat  of  skin  made  with  the 
hair  outside.  This  is  fastened  around  the 
waist  with  a  belt  and  buckle,  and  a  pair  of 
tight-fitting  breeches,  made  of  tanned  rein- 
deer leather,  are  fastened  round  the  ankle. 
The  boots,  of  corresponding  material,  are 
peaked  and  turned  up  at  the  toes.  These  are 
drawn  over  the  breeches  and  fastened  at  the 
top  with  a  long  piece  of  list,  which  keeps  out 
the  snow  and  makes  them  nearly  water-tight. 

Even  in  the  depths  of  winter  ..he  Laps  have 
their  necks  always  bare.  They  wear  no  linen 
or  stockings,  and  stuff  the  boots,  which  are 
very  roomy,  with  soft  hay,  made  from  the 
cypress-grass.  Their  gloves  are  like  mittens, 
and  often  ornamented  with  great  taste.  In 
summer,  the  same  leather  breeches  are  worn, 
but  the  coat  is  made  of  coarse  cloth.  The 


44       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sttn 

women  carry  a  tobacco  pouch,  pipe,  scissors, 
and  a  spoon  to  drink  spirits  from,  hanging 
from  the  waist.  The  richer  Laps  often  orna- 
ment these  articles  with  silver  braid. 

In  the  winter  the  Laps  use  snow-shoes,  or 
skiddor,  and  they  always  carry  a  spear,  with  a 
four-edged  spike,  about  a  foot  in  length, 
mounted  on  an  aspen  shaft,  six  feet  long. 
Their  equipment  for  the  winter  is  completed 
with  an  old  skin  knap-sack  for  provisions,  a 
rough  case-knife  in  the  belt,  and  a  little  iron 
pipe  for  their  delectation  in  smoking,  and 
sometimes  a  gun  like  a  pea-rifle. 

The  sleighs  are  like  small  boats  cut  in  half, 
and  only  hold  one  person,  and  are  so  cranky 
that  the  driver  is  obliged  to  use  a  short  pole 
to  keep  the  sleigh  steady  ;  so  that  between 
driving  the  reindeer,  which  are  fastened  to 
the  sleigh,  and  keeping  his  balance  with  the 
short  pole,  he  has  enough  to  do.  If  the 
sleigh  turns  over,  which  it  sometimes  does, 
the  occupant  can  not  fall  out,  as  he  is  too 
tightly  packed  in  with  skins  ;  but  he  has  an 
awkward  time  of  it,  and  gets  sadly  bumped 
in  the  snow  if  the  reindeer  dash  off  at  full 
speed,  as  they  have  a  habit  of  doing. 

The  Laps  all  live  by  fishing  and  hunting. 
Their  game  is  elk,  bear,  foxes,  wolves,  ermine 


To  the    Volga.  45 

and  squirrel.  The  Russian  Laps  are  chiefly 
fishers.  They  are  quiet,  hospitable,  honest 
and  inoffensive,  and  decidedly  favorable 
specimens  of  a  semi-civilized  race,  still  retain- 
ing their  patriarchal  traditions.  The  father 
is  supreme  in  the  family,  and  can  apportion 
his  property  at  death,  and  disinherit  any  of 
his  children,  should  he  see  fit.  If  a  son  wishes 
to  leave  the  house  and  set  up  for  himself,  he 
.can  take  nothing  with  him  but  his  wife's 
dowry.  Drunkenness  is  their  great  failing. 

Our  ride  on  the  steamer  (Damskibe)  "  Ori- 
on "  has  been  three  weeks.  We  have  had  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  whole  coast  of  Nor- 
way, with  its  hundreds  of  fjords  and  lakes 
and  an  infinity  of  islands,  and  its  numerous 
towns  and  cities,  all  supported  by  its  immense 
fisheries.  At  one  place,  which  we  passed  on 
our  return,  they  told  us  that  they  had  that 
day  a  great  success  in  a  "  catch  "  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  herring.  What  we  saw  were 
being  packed,  on  a  number  of  islands,  by 
men,  women  and  children,  and  our  steamer 
was  taking  them  away  from  every  town  to 
Bergen,  whence  they  are  shipped  to  Spain 
and  other  countries.  At  every  stopping 
place  the  steamer  does  not  go  up  to  the 
wharf,  but  anchors  some  distance  off,  and  the 


46       From  the  Land  of  the  Midriight  Sun 

numerous  boats  come  out  to  bring  passengers 
and  take  others  ashore.  Sometimes  as  many 
as  twenty  or  thirty  boats  push  around  the 
steamer  to  get  the  first  opportunity  to  dis- 
charge their  loads.  Oftentimes  quite  a  skir- 
mish ensues  between  them. 

While  this  is  going  on,  other  boat  loads  of 
men  and  women  are  in  the  distance,  waving 
their  handkerchiefs  to  friends  leaving  on  the 
steamers,  making  an  exciting  scene,  and  is  an 
oasis  to  the  passengers  who  have  such  long 
distances  to  travel,  with  nothing  to  relieve 
the  monotony,  save  the  splendid  scenery, 
with  a  surprise  at  every  turn. 

A  London  gentleman  and  myself  concluded 
that  we  would  leave  the  steamer  at  Thrond- 
hjem,  and  take  a  ride  by  cariole  through  the 
country  for  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  and  intercept  the  steamer  at  Namsos. 
We  started  a  day  ahead  of  her  leaving 
Throndhjem,  and  took  the  cars  for  sixteen 
miles,  to  a  station  with  the  euphonious  name 
of  "  Hell."  We  crossed  a  river  which  might 
be  the  "  Styx,"  but  there  was  no  "  old  ferry- 
man there  to  ferry  us  over  the  river  Styx,"  and 
they  have  a  bridge  now.  We  passed  safely, 
and  a  boy  pointed  out  to  us  the  first  cariole 
station,  or  skyds,  as  it  is  called  in  Norwegian. 


To  the    Volga.  47 

Almost  every  town  in  Norway  is  reached 
by  steamboats,  and  there  are  no  stages  or 
conveyances  through  the  country.  The 
government  has,  therefore,  created  a  system 
of  "  posting,"  as  they  call  it,  by  cariole  (at  a 
cost  of  about  six  to  eight  cents  per  mile), 
which  is  a  kind  of  gig,  like  a  race-horse 
vehicle,  only  it  is  ugly  and  clumsy  in  appear- 
ance. It  has  two  long  poles  and  a  prow- 
shaped  body,  and  a  seat  like  a  half  bowl,  just 
large  enough  for  one  person  to  sit  on.  The 
feet  must  rest  on  a  cross-piece,  directly  in  the 
rear  of  the  horse.  Behind  is  a  board,  on  the 
ends  of  the  poles,  to  strap  the  luggage  onto, 
while  the  "  gut,"  (boy)  or  "  pige,"  (girl)  takes 
a  seat,  with  legs  dangling,  and  keeps  one 
company  till  the  next  station,  when  they  take 
back  the  cariole. 

There  are  no  springs  to  this  primitive 
conveyance,  and  one  can  imagine  the  jolting 
when  a  stone  or  a  hole  obstructs  the  progress. 
The  harness  is  equally  primitive  ;  no  blinders, 
with  rope  lines  and  a  small  piece  of  board 
each  side  for  the  iron  saddle-tree  to  rest  on. 
The  horse  draws  by  the  poles,  with  a  kind  of 
wooden  fastening  attached  to  the  harness. 
You  are  yourself  expected  to  drive. 

The   roads  are   made  by  the  government, 


48       from  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

and  the  whole  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  was  as  smooth  as  the  roadway  in 
any  well-kept  park.  The  stations  are  from 
five  to  eight  miles  apart,  and  each  is  a  farm- 
house, where  they  are  obliged  to  have  two  or 
three  horses,  according  to  the  amount  of 
travel,  always  in  readiness.  These  are  the 
farm  horses,  and  in  one  instance  were  taken 
from  the  mowing  machine  for  our  use.  The 
farmer  is  liable  to  a  fine  if  he  keeps  one  wait- 
ing more  than  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes,  and 
it  is  often  a  great  detriment  to  his  business. 

At  the  second  station  we  drove  up  to  no 
one  came  to  the  door  (so  it  was  at  every 
station),  and  we  had  to  find  our  way  into  the 
room  where  the  traveler  is  expected  to 
register  his  name  in  the  "sydsbog,"  or  day- 
book, and  the  number  of  horses  he  wants, 
and  any  complaints  he  has  to  make  in  regard 
to  his  treatment,  delay,  etc.  In  the  front  of 
the  book  are  found  the  laws,  passed  by  the 
Parliament,  imposing  the  fines,  etc.,  for  not 
complying  with  the  law  and  fixing  the  duty, 
etc.  An  inspector  comes  along  at  stated  times 
and  makes  an  examination,  and  if  anything  is 
wrong  the  law  is  very  arbitrary. 

We  waited  at  one  station  an  hour  for  our 
horses  to  come ;  they  were  off  in  the  field, 


To  the   Volga.  49 

" " " " * ' 

some  distance,  at  work  :  if  the  farmers  have 
not  the  horses  at  home  they  are  obliged  to 
procure  them  from  the  neighboring  farmers  ; 
we  thought  with  such  delay  as  this  our 
steamer  would  not  wait  for  us,  and  with  over 
one  hundred  miles  to  drive,  the  prospect  of 
meeting  our  friends  was  not  very  encourag- 
ing ;  we  started,  however,  with  very  good 
speed,  as  the  ponies  were  fresh,  we  soon  came 
to  a  gate  across  the  road  and  a  boy  jumped 
off  quickly,  and  opened  it,  and,  although  we 
started  the  horse  as  soon  as  possible  the  boy 
jumped  on  and  we  went  on  at  a  John  Gilpen 
speed,  though  every  few  miles  was  another 
gate  to  open. 

We  learned  that  each  landholder  has  a  gate 
across  the  road  at  the  entrance  and  exit  to 
his  premises  which  gives  the  "  skydsgut " 
plenty  to  do  in  opening  and  closing  them. 

During  the  entire  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  we  did  not  meet  ten  carioles  or  vehi- 
cles ;  we  saw  scarcely  any  one  on  the  road  or 
about  the  farm-houses,  and  only  saw  men 
and  women  in  the  hay-fields  cutting  the 
grass  and  making  the  hay  by  putting  it  on 
poles  to  dry. 

There  were  large  farm-houses  with  several 
barns,  the  former  painted  white  or  yellow, 


50       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  latter  red,  in  every  direction  overlooking 
the  beautiful  valleys,  the  farmers  always 
choosing  an  elevated  and  commanding  posi- 
tion ;  the  buildings  are  made  of  logs  and 
covered  with  boards,  two  stories  in  height. 
and  stretching  out  at  great  length  ;  there  is 
generally  the  living-house  in  front  for  the 
family,  on  one  side  the  servants  "  or  tenants," 
on  the  other  side  the  barn,  and  on  the  third 
side  the  store-house  for  butter  and  milk,  all 
of  which  from  a  hollow  square  ;  there  are  no 
cellars  under  the  houses. 

The  dwellings  are  plainly  furnished — no 
carpets,  but  the  floors  are  covered  with  sprigs 
of  juniper,  which  emit  a  pleasant  odor  and 
everything  is  clean  and  neat.  In  one  house 
was  a  sewing-machine  and  a  woman  spinning 
wool  into  yarn,  and  the  farmer  at  work  with 
his  mowing  machine  out  doors,  the  only  one 
we  saw  the  whole  distance,  Around  the 
rooms  are  generally  some  very  common  wood 
engravings  of  Christ,  Luther,  the  Prodigal 
Son  in  his  different  stages  ;  Norway's  great 
poet,  Bjornsterne-Bjorson,  and  some  of  the 
radical  leaders. 

The  peasants  are  all  radical  and  are  preju- 
diced against  kings  and  an  aristocracy,  and  in 
favor  of  a  republican  form  of  government. 


To  the    Volga.  51 

They  have  a  good  education,  and  are  a  plain, 
frugal,  industrious  people,  kind  and  uncon- 
ventional, sit  down  to  table  with  their  ser- 
vants, and  each  one  is  expected  to  help  him- 
self without  ceremony. 

We  picked  up  a  little  Norwegian  language, 
which  seemed  to  help  us  much,  as  they  have 
a  horror  about  being  ordered  to  do  anything, 
and  at  the  changes  when  I  wanted  anything 
I  would  say  "  Vaer  saa  gud  strax,"  (be  so 
good  at  once  as  to  do  so  and  so) ,  and  they 
would  run  off  at  once,  and  we  had  no  more 
delays  in  changing  horses. 

At  the  third  station  I  had  a  "  pige  "  (girl) 
for  my  "  skyds,"  and  she  tried  to  be  very  so- 
cial, but  as  I  could  not  understand  a  word 
she  said,  except  as  she  would  say  "  America  " 
and  point  to  different  farm-houses,  I  judged 
that  from  the  houses  some  or  all  of  their 
inmates  had  emigrated  to  America  ;  she  said 
in  broken  English,  "I  would  like  to  go." 
When  I  told  them  I  was  from  America,  they 
would  brighten  up  and  say  "  I  have  a  broder 
(brother)  and  a  soster  (sister)  in  America," 
and  asked  me,  "  Do  you  know  my  broder  in 
San  Francisco  ?  Do  you  know  my  soster  in 
Mobile  ?  "  Having  no  idea  of  our  country  of 
such  magnificent  distances. 


52       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

The  large  emigration  from  Norway  and 
Sweden,  which  amounted  to  one  thousand 
per  week  last  year,  is  alarming  the  govern- 
ment, and  they  are  doing  all  they  can  to  pre- 
vent it,  our  courier  says  "  that  our  govern- 
ment won't  long  hold  together,  on  account 
of  the  southern,  northern  and  western  inter- 
ests being  antagonistic  ;  and  warns  the  young 
men  if  they  go  to  America  they  will  prob- 
ably get  into  a  war.  Such  warnings  don't 
have  any  effect,  as  the  news  comes  from  those 
who  have  gone  to  America  of  their  success. 
We  met  quite  a  number  who  were  now  on  a 
visit  to  this  country  ;  they  were  mostly  from 
Minnesota.  They  like  the  climate  of  the 
north-west — it  is  more  like  their  own. 

The  country  through  which  we  passed  on 
our  long  drive  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  was  well  cultivated.  They  raise  rye, 
barley,  oats  and  potatoes  ;  but  toward  the 
north  end,  for  fifty  miles,  nothing  but  white 
birch  and  Norway  spruce  trees  and  hazel 
bushes  were  seen.  All  along  the  road  were 
beautiful  flowers,  heath,  cornel,  loosestrife 
golden  rod,  queen  of  the  meadow,  bluebell, 
stone-crops  (several  varieties),  orchids,  flower- 
ing sedge,  white  daisy,  buttercups,  several 
species  of  pyzola,  creeping  vetch  and  many 


To  the    Volga.  53 

other  common  flowers  and  plants.  One  of 
the  most  beautiful  is  a  long  creeping  plant, 
with  small,  nearly  round  opposite  leaves,  and 
two  tiny,  pinkish  flowers  hanging  together 
from  an  upright  stalk  ;  it  is  called  Linncea 
fort-alts,  and  is  peculiar  to  Norway  and 
Sweden.  The  name  has  been  adopted  as  the 
emblem  of  the  great  Linnaeus,  the  world- 
renowned  Swedish  botanist.  Its  low,  trailing 
habit  and  late  bloom  are  considered  typical 
of  Linnaeus'  humble  origin  and  late  fame. 
We  found  all  these  plants,  and  many  more, 
on  our  way  to  North  Cape  Mountain.  It 
would  seem  as  if  the  season  was  too  short 
for  plants  to  bloom  in  latitude  seventy-one 
minutes,  ten  degrees  north,  but  the  sun 
shining  for  nearly  three  months  brings  vege- 
tation forward  most  rapidly. 

The  first  day  we  had  ridden  seventy  miles 
in  our  unsocial  carioles  over  hill  and  dale, 
through  forests  of  pine,  besides  lakes  and 
fjords,  with  such  diversified  scenery  that  we 
had  forgotten  how  tired  we  were,  and  then 
the  sun  did  not  go  down  until  ten-thirty,  but 
at  eleven  o'clock  we  were  glad  to  stop  for  the 
night,  and  take  the  remainder  of  our  journey 
the  next  day. 

We  reached   Namsos  in  time  to  go  aboard 


54       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

of  our  steamer,  after  waiting  two  or  three 
hours  for  it  to  come  in.  These  were  "  red- 
letter  "  days  for  us.  We  had  not  had  much 
to  eat  but  milk  and  dry  wafer-like  bread, 
made  of  rye  and  oatmeal,  in  large,  round 
thin  cakes,  as  much  as  a  foot  in  circum- 
ference, and  piled  up  in  the  "  starbur  "  (store- 
house) five  or  six  feet  high,  and,  when  it  is  to 
be  eaten,  it  can  be  broken  into  all  kinds  of 
shapes,  as  it  is  so  brittle.  This  is  the  only 
kind  of  bread  they  have,  and  but  little  can  be 
eaten  at  once. 

Everywhere,  on  the  steamer  or  in  the 
towns,  the  Norwegians  are  ready  to  do  one  a 
favor,  or  answer  questions  when  they  can 
speak  English,  as  most  of  the  officers  on  the 
steamboats  can,  and  at  the  hotels  ;  and  the 
Government  officials,  whom  one  meets,  will 
point  out  this  mountain,  that  glacier,  or  some 
beautiful  view,  and  repeat  some  legend  con- 
nected with  the  spot.  One  gentleman  from 
Christiana,  who  traveled  with  us  nearly  the 
whole  distance,  was  so  exceedingly  kind  and 
intelligent  that  he  won  all  our  hearts.  He 
expected  to  meet  us  on  our  return,  but  was 
disappointed,  and  sent  us  by  telegraph  the 
following  message  : 

"  Nordland,  over  thy  silent  waters,  through 


To  the    Volga.  55 

thy  ever-lighted  air,  thou  unfoldest  for  the 
traveler's  wondering  sight  thy  magic,  lofty 
panorama,  pointing  to  heaven  ;  there  springs 
forth  the  pure  the  root  on  earth,  the  crown 
in  heaven.  May  we  meet  there.  God  bless 
you  all,  and  may  He  carry  you  safe  and  saved 
to  your  distant  homes. 

"  Yours  truly,  C.  NIELSEN." 

This  shows  the  kindess  of  the  people.  At 
Tromso  a  gentleman  went  a  long  distance 
out  of  his  way  to  show  me  the  post-office. 
One  of  the  girls  on  the  cariole,  at  the  end  of 
the  route,  when  I  gave  her  a  small  sum  of 
money,  as  is  customary  to  the  one  who  ac- 
companies you,  shook  hands  with  me  several 
times  ;  such  is  the  custom  when  they  receive 
a  gift. 

One  would  judge  that  most  of  the  boys 
are  named  Olaf  or  Oscar,  and  they  seem  to 
worship  Saint  Olaf.  On  our  cariole  ride 
through  the  country,  we  found  the  boy  had 
directed  us  out  of  our  way  about  six  miles  to 
Stiktesad.  The  view  was  most  beautiful,  and 
all  at  once  the  boy  pointed  to  a  monument 
and  stopped  the  horse.  There  was  a  well- 
trod  path  to  an  ornamented  fence  surround- 
ing a  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of 
Saint  Olaf,  who  fell  in  the  famous  battle  in 


56       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  annals  of  Norway,  July  agth,  1030.  There 
is  also  a  beautiful  church  "erected  to  his 
memory  near  the  spot  where  he  was  killed, 
and  everybody  visiting  the  neighborhood 
goes  to  this  monument  ;  many  Norwegians 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  it,  so  the  boy  took  it 
for  granted  that  we  also  wanted  to  go  there. 
We  did  not  care  anything  for  Saint  Olaf,  and 
we  did  not  like  to  be  taken  out  of  our  way 
six  miles  at  that  time  of  night,  when  we  had 
twenty-five  miles  farther  to  go. 

Our  journey  by  steamer,  with  the  small 
state-rooms,  and  many  other  inconveniences, 
would  have  been  tedious  enough  but  for  the 
magnificent  scenery,  the  delightful  weather, 
the  winds,  the  play  of  the  light  and  shade, 
the  purity  of  the  atmosphere — all  quite  un- 
like the  natural  features  that  we  have  any- 
where seen  either  in  Europe  or  America.  The 
waters  seem  to  be  full  of  fish — whales,  cod, 
herring,  salmon,  and  many  others,  which  are 
the  source  of  immense  revenue  to  Norway. 
The  long  line  of  warehouses  at  the  landings 
in  every  place  are  to  store  fish,  and  all  over 
the  rocks,  in  many  places,  they  are  packing 
or  drying  fish  ;  and  long  lines  of  girls  can  be 
seen  unloading  codfish  from  the  vessels,  pass- 
ing the  fish  from  one  to  the  other,  others 


To  the   Volga.  57 

spreading  them  out  on  the  rocks  to  dry,  and 
others  piling  them  up  in  round  piles,  over 
which  are  placed  dome-shaped  coverings 
when  the  weather  is  wet. 

There  seems  to  be  an  infinity  of  birds. 
Swan,  geese,  pelicans,  grebe  ducks,  auk  ducks, 
gulls,  etc.  The  eider  duck  is  a  great  curiosity. 
We  brought  away  an  eider  down  quilt,  which 
is  quite  curious  to  our  friends,  as  it  is  made 
of  the  skins  of  the  male  eider  duck. 

Our  tour  through  Norway  was  a  great  suc- 
cess. There  was  so  much  that  was  grand, 
picturesque,  new  to  us  and  exciting.  It  cul- 
minated in  our  journey,  by  cariole,  through 
the  far-famed  valleys  of  the  Romsdal  and 
Gudbrandsdal,  over  two  hundred  miles.  The 
cariole  I  have  already  described  as  peculiar  to 
Norway. 


58       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


IV. 


MOLDE.       A    NATIVE    WEDDING.       THE     BEAUTIES 
OF    NATURE.       CHURCH    AT    LISTAD. 

WE  started  from  Throndhjem  by  steamer 
to  Molde,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
towns  in  Norway.  Our  attention  was  con- 
tinually attracted  by  the  most  beautiful  roses 
and  rare  flowers  in  every  yard,  and  in  the 
windows  of  all  the  dwellings,  both  of  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  The  valley  is  so  sheltered  by 
hills  and  mountains  that  vegetation  is  unusu- 
ally luxurious,  and  such  roses  and  honey- 
suckles running  over  the  houses  in  the  middle 
of  August  we  have  never  seen. 

There  was  a  grand  wedding  in  the  church 
the  day  we  were  there.  The  daughter  of  the 
sheriff  was  married,  and  all  the  flags  were  fly- 
ing from  the  vessels,  and  from  almost  every 
house,  and  from  the  villas  on  the  mountain 
sides,  the  young  ladies  were  out  on  the  streets 
in  their  gayest  attire.  Roses  and  flowers 
were  taken  to  the  church  in  great  profusion, 


To  the    Volga.  59 

and  a  more  beautiful  scene  we  have  never 
witnessed. 

Everywhere  in  Scandinavia  we  notice  that 
the  fine  dwellings  and  public  buildings  have 
a  flagstaff,  and  on  all  public  occasions  the 
people  run  up  the  union-jack  and  the  flag  of 
their  nation,  which  gives  a  gay  appearance  ; 
and  to  this  is  added  the  display  of  flags  in 
the  harbor,  where  each  vessel  runs  up  the 
colors  of  it  nationality. 

The  views  from  the  mountains  are  the  most 
picturesque  in  Norway.  The  Romsdalhorn, 
and  the  long  range  of  peculiar  shaped  moun- 
tains covered  with  snow,  the  lakes  and  fjords, 
with  the  Atlantic  ocean  stretching  out  to  the 
west,  make  a  charming  picture.  This  place 
has  become  so  attractive,  by  reason  of  its 
scenery,  fishing  and  hunting,  that  a  large 
hotel  is  to  be  erected  here  the  coming  season, 
to  accommodate  the  numerous  tourists. 

We  leave  this  place  by  steamer  on  the 
Romsdal  fjord,  winding  our  way  out  into  the 
open  sea  until  we  enter  the  fjord.  The  ride 
the  entire  distance  is  most  enchanting,  with 
the  high  mountains  ranging  from  five  to  six 
thousand  feet,  covered  with  snow  and 
glaciers,  and  on  the  side  of  the  fjord,  nestling 
in  among  the  hills,  the  beautiful  white  and 


6o       Prom  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Si/n 

red  farm-houses  and  out-buildings,  and  an  oc- 
casional kirke  (church)  on  an  eminence,  the 
green  hillsides  and  valleys,  quite  in  contrast 
with  the  bare  rocks  along  the  Norwegian 
coast,  that  we  have  been  looking  at  in  our 
journey  to  the  North  Cape. 

We  arrive  at  Veblungsnaes,  at  the  head  of 
the  fjord,  amidst  a  heavy  rainstorm,  and  find 
our  carioles  in  waiting,  and,  as  they  are  not 
covered,  we  get  wet  through  on  our  ride  to 
Aak,  the  first  station,  where  we  are  glad  to  stay 
overnight,  and  dry  our  clothing  by  the  huge 
kitchen  fireplace.  After  supper  at  this  old 
unique  hotel,  we  all  go  out  to  get  a  view  of 
the  Romsdalhorn,  usually  known  as  the 
Horn,  which  is  over  five  thousand  feet  high, 
with  a  horn-shaped  rock  running  up  into  the 
air  over  eight  hundred  feet  from  the  top  of 
the  mountain.  In  every  direction  are  large 
mountains,  over  six  thousand  feet  high,  and 
covered  with  snow.  All  at  once  the  sun 
comes  out,  and  throws  its  light  over  the  dis- 
tant heights  and  on  the  green  hillsides, 
various  shades  of  green,  gold  and  silver,  with 
a  rainbow  spanning  the  whole,  enchants  us, 
and  we  all  stand  in  admiration  of  this  never- 
to-be-forgotten  sunset  at  the  Aak  Hotel 
under  the  mountains. 


To  the    Volga.  61 

Some  of  the  ladies  of  our  party  are  sketch- 
ing the  scene,  but  it  is  impossible  to  put  in 
the  continual  beautiful  lights  and  shades 
which  \ve  have  noticed  are  peculiar  to  Nor- 
way. The  young  landlord  at  our  hotel  keeps 
us  awake  late  telling  of  his  numerous  ex- 
periences with  Englishmen,  while  with  them 
as  guide  on  their  hunting  and  fishing  excur- 
sions. He  is  a  good  story-teller,  and  his 
peculiar  voice  and  broken  English,  and  ex- 
citing manner,  short,  stubby  appearance, 
with  his  long  pipe  in  his  mouth,  are  laugh- 
able enough. 

We  are  up  early  in  the  morning  for  our 
three  or  four  days'  ride  by  cariole  through 
the  most  interesting  part  of  Norway — along 
the  Rauma  and  Lagen  Valleys,  known  as  the 
Romsdal  and  Gudbransdal.  The  morning 
was  a  delightful  one,  the  sun  clear,  and  the 
air  cool  and  bracing  after  the  rain  of  the 
night  before.  We  soon  rode  along  under  the 
lofty  Romsdalhorn,  extending  perpendicu- 
larly on  one  side  of  us,  and  the  rapid  Rausna, 
full  of  cataracts  and  waterfalls,  on  the  other. 
The  ride  that  day,  and  the  novel,  picturesque 
scenes  during  a  walk  of  eight  or  ten  miles, 
will  not  soon  be  effaced  from  our  memory. 

Some  one  calls  this  the  valley  of  one  thou- 


62       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

sand  waterfalls ;  some  of  them  drop  over 
precipices  more  than  two  thousand  feet  high. 
The  walls  of  the  gulley  below  have  been 
worn  into  deep  caldrons  by  the  action  of  the 
water,  which  nearly  disappears  in  spray 
before  it  reaches  the  bottom,  where  its  roar 
is  loudly  reverberated.  The  whole  drive  is 
one  continued  succession  of  surprises,  with 
lofty  mountains  and  small  houses  along  the 
valley,  white  birches  and  alders  by  the  road 
side,  and  luxuriant  pastures  on  the  slopes  of 
the  hills. 

Some  of  our  party  seemed  to  think  this 
valley  equal  to  the  Yosemite  in  California, 
but  to  me  it  does  not  appear  so  grand  and 
imposing,  and  not  so  picturesque  as  some 
parts  of  Switzerland  ;  but  it  is  peculiar  to 
itself,  and  well  pays  one  fond  of  such  scenery 
to  visit  it. 

We  leave  this  valley,  after  a  journey  of 
forty  or  fifty  miles,  and  come  to  the  Gud- 
bransdal  Valley,  which  is  tame  in  compari- 
son, but  the  ride  gives  us  an  opportunity  to 
see  the  peasantry  and  their  farms,  and  pecu- 
liar dress  and  mode  of  living.  These  cariole 
rides  are  not  recommended  for  their  speed, 
as  one  is  likely  to  meet  with  many  draw- 
backs from  want  of  horses  and  the  dilatory 


To  the   Volga,  63 

manner  of  the  keepers  at  the  stations,  where 
we  were  detained  sometimes  for  two  or  three 
hours.  Only  four  or  five  horses  are  available 
at  each  station,  and  if  some  one  happens  to 
be  in  advance  of  you,  you  are  obliged  to  wait 
until  the  horses  come  back  from  the  station 
beyond,  and  then  they  have  to  be  rested  and 
fed.  Thus,  instead  of  two  days,  as  promised, 
we  were  three  and  one-half  days  from  Aak  to 
Lillehammer.  and  experienced  many  ludi- 
crous scenes.  Our  meals  were  usually  good, 
as  trout  is  abundant,  and  we  had  it  at  almost 
every  meal  ;  the  bread  of  rye  and  oats  was 
thin  as  a  wafer,  hard  and  brittle. 

At  Domars  we  stayed  several  hours  ;  it  is 
on  a  high  hill,  and  the  air  is  fresh  and  in- 
vigorating ;  this  point  is  at  the  junction  of 
the  Gudbrandsdal,  Dorufjeld  and  Throndh- 
jem  routes.  Here  we  met  three  American 
young  ladies  traveling  alone,  or  rather  with 
only  a  courier  ;  we  were  surprised  at  their 
independence  for  ladies  so  young  ;  they  had 
been  to  the  North  Cape,  and  were  going  to 
spend  the  summer  in  Norway.  In  conversa- 
tion, we  found  the  youngest  not  over  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  of  age  ;  \ve  were  in- 
terested in  seeing  them  pack  themselves 
away  in  their  carioles,  and  drive  off  one 


64       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

after  the  other  over  the  route  we  had  just 
traveled. 

Our  experience  at  the  next  station  was  not 
an  agreeable  one,  although  the  station  mas- 
ter claimed  his  descent  from  the  first  King  of 
Norway  in  1030,  "  Harold  Haanfagre,"  and 
showed  us  several  crowns,  one  of  the  old 
King's  and  another  a  bride's  silver  crown,  and 
a  number  of  old  curiosities  ;  this  man  was  so 
displeased  because  one  of  our  English  bloods 
came  into  the  station  on  a  canter,  that  he 
would  not  allow  us  to  have  the  horses  for  an 
hour,  and  then  only  by  coaxing  and  a  prom- 
ise from  the  young  man  that  he  should  go 
behind  us. 

It  is  delightful  to  notice  how  kind  all  the 
Norwegians  are  to  their  horses  ;  every  little 
while  the  boy  or  girl  who  attends  us  will  stop 
them  and  step  around  to  stroke  their  faces 
and  look  over  them  to  see  if.  they  are  sweat- 
ing. Going  up  hill  they  also  stop  them  and 
let  them  get  wind — this  young  Englishman 
caused  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  account 
of  his  fast  driving,  as  the  word  was  passed 
along  by  the  (skydot  gut)  boy  to  the  other 
stations  to  look  out  for  him. 

This  is  a  historic  valley  and  our  intelligent 
driver  (Olaf  Ees),  who  was  valuable  to  us  as 


To  the   Volga.  65 

a  courier,  although  he  could  speak  hardly 
a  word  of  English,  was  so  bright  that  he 
managed  to  learn  a  good  many  words  of  us 
and  we  of  him — it  is  easy  to  do  this,  as  there 
are  many  words  in  Norwegian  and  English 
that  are  similar — pointed  out  to  us  many  his- 
torical spots  ;  one  was  a  mountain  precipice 
where  three  hundred  Norwegian  peasants 
hurled  down  huge  stones  upon  nine  hundred 
Scotch  troops,  in  1612,  and  killed  nearly  every 
one  of  them,  including  Colonel  Sinclair,  the 
commander. 

The  troops  had  just  landed  and  were  pil- 
laging and  robbing  the  peasants,  and  endeav- 
oring to  force  their  way  through  Norway  to 
join  the  Swedes  ;  a  tablet  in  the  rock  com- 
memorates the  deed  as  follows  :  "  Erindring 
om  BondernesTappered."  A  little  further  on 
is  a  stone  to  show  where  Colonel  Sinclair  was 
buried. 

In  the  neighborhood  we  were  shown  the 
(gaard  steig)  farm-house,  where  the  leader  of 
the  peasants  \vho  annihilated  the  Scottish 
invaders  lived  ;  near  here  is  also  the  seat  of 
Dale  Gudbrand,  the  powerful  heathen  oppo- 
nent of  Saint  Olaf,  and  the  scene  of  heathen 
sacrificial  rites. 

On  Sunday  we  attended  church    (kirke)  at 


66       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

Listad  ;  the  church  is  an  old  octagon,  built  in 
1720,  it  is  in  a  quaint  style  of  architecture, 
with  a  tower  in  the  centre,  which  is  painted 
black  ;  inside  were  galleries  all  around  the 
building.  When  I  entered  I  heard  a  voice 
reading  or  praying,  and  looked  around  to  see 
where  it  came  from,  and  for  some  time  sup- 
posed it  was  some  one  hid  from  view,  but, 
finally  looking  up,  saw  the  priest  perched 
upon  a  high  pulpit  far  above  the  audience. 
He  looked  as  if  he  might  be  the  old  reformer 
Luther  himself,  with  his  long  gown  and 
Elizabethian  collar  and  ruffle  around  his 
neck. 

The  peasants  are  very  plainly  dressed,  the 
Women  wearing  white  handkerchiefs  around 
their  necks  and  on  their  head  ;  barely  one 
had  on  a  bonnet,  and  they  looked  queer 
enough,  as  they  would  bow  their  heads  and 
then  raise  them  again,  all  over  the  church. 
Most  all  of  the  attendants  were  women.  A 
number  brought  their  babes  to  have  them 
baptized.  The  priests  are  highly  educated, 
and  much  venerated  by  the  peasants,  who 
speak  lovingly  of  their  self-sacrificing  devo- 
tion to  them  during  the  long  and  cold  winter 
nights,  going  from  place  to  place  over  the 
mountains  to  minister  to  their  necessities. 


To  the    Volga.  67 

The  priests  have  small  salaries,  but  con- 
nected with  each  church  is  a  (proestgaad) 
parsonage,  with  a  farm  attached,  which  is 
cultivated  under  the  direction  of  the  priest. 
The  building  is  usually  an  imposing  farm- 
house and  out-buildings,  the  former  painted 
white,  the  latter  red.  The  young  people  at 
the  station  were  preparing  for  a  grand  tea 
party,  for  a  Sunday  night  entertainment, 
which  they  enjoyed  hugely. 

These  valleys  are  spoken  of  as  highly  cul- 
tivated, but  to  us  the  farms  looked  small,  and 
many  of  the  houses  inferior,  and  hardly  any 
cattle  to  be  seen.  The  driver  thought  that 
the  cattle  were  off  to  the  saeters,  a  pasture 
place  on  the  mountains,  where  the  stock  is 
sent  for  the  summer,  and  cared  for  by  the 
girls  of  the  farm,  generally  living  in  little 
huts,  and  returned  to  the  farms  when  the 
snow  comes  in  the  fall. 

We  passed  continually  waterfalls,  and  to- 
day we  had  too  many  falls  over  our  heads,  or, 
rather,  on  our  heads,  and  had  no  protection 
but  our  waterproof  garments,  which,  how- 
ever, proved  equal  to  the  situation.  We 
stopped  to  look  at  the  Hunnerfos,  a  splendid 
fall,  spreading  out  over  a  great  surface,  with 
numerous  rapids. 


68       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

We  were  glad  to  reach  Lillihammer,  the 
end  of  our  cariole  journey  of  three  and  one- 
half  days,  tired  and  wet  enough,  and  were 
glad  to  continue  our  journey  by  steamer,  on 
the  beautiful  Lake  Mjoesen,  the  longest  in 
Norway,  being  sixty-three  miles  in  length- 
On  each  side  are  beautiful  farm-houses  and 
green  hillsides,  and  the  scenery  quite  in  con- 
trast with  what  we  have  been  witnessing  for 
the  past  three  or  four  weeks.  At  the  end  of 
the  lake  we  take  railroad  for  the  beautiful 
city  of  Christiana,  the  capital  of  Norway, 
where  we  spend  a  few  days  most  agreeably, 
visiting  the  various  places  of  interest,  among 
them  the  "  exposition "  for  Scandinavia, 
which  is  now  in  progress.  Here  we  do  not 
find  much  of  interest,  only  what  is  peculiar 
to  the  northern  countries.  Some  of  the  paint- 
ings in  the  art  gallery  are  quite  creditable, 
especially  those  of  some  of  the  beautiful 
fjords  and  fishing  towns  we  had  visited.  We 
were  glad  to  see  that  some  of  the  finest  were 
by  Mr.  Normann,  a  Norwegian  artist,  with 
whom  we  had  traveled  to  the  North  Cape. 
He  was  continually  taking  sketches,  and  it 
seems  to  me,  no  country  in  the  world  abounds 
in  such  grand  scenery  for  the  artist's  pencil. 

The    American    consul,    to    whom    I    was 


To  the    Vofga.  69 

favored  with  a  letter  of  introduction,  was  very 
attentive  to  us,  and  accompanied  us  through 
Oscar  Hall,  and  pointed  out  to  us  the  beauti- 
ful scenery  around  Christiana,  and  invited  us 
to  his  lovely  villa,  a  short  distance  from  the 
city,  where  he  has  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  adjoining.  The  buildings  are  ex- 
tensive, and  of  an  old  style  of  Norwegian 
architecture,  of  which  I  was  anxious  to  ob- 
tain a  photograph,  they  were  so  quaint.  The 
grounds  are  laid  out  in  the  old  English  style 
of  parks  and  lakes.  The  consul's  wife  is  an 
American  lady.  He  is  a  Norwegian,  and  I 
wish  all  our  consuls  were  so  worthy  of  their 
position.  He  rendered  us  much  valuable  ser- 
vice in  obtaining  information  for  shipping 
goods  to  America,  and  about  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  country. 

Norway  is  greatly  excited,  politically,  now, 
and  a  great  impeachment  trial  is  going  on  in 
Christiana,  in  the  Parliament  buildings,  be- 
fore the  highest  court.  It  seems  the  King, 
Oscar  II.,  vetoed  some  bill,  passed  by  the 
Parliament,  and  the  ministry  and  counsellors 
confirmed  it,  and  the  country  became  so 
aroused  about  their  rights  being  interfered 
with,  that  they  have  undertaken  to  impeach 
them.  We  were"  in  the  court,  but  could  not 


yo       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

understand  a  word.  The  names  of  the  eleven 
were  handed  to  us,  as  printed  and  lying  on 
the  desks  of  the  impeaching  court. 

The  peasants  of  Norway  are  republicans, 
and  are  quite  radical  in  their  views,  and  are 
jealous  of  any  infringement  upon  their  rights. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  cities  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  conservative.  We  could  not  quite  under- 
stand the  controversy,  but  by  the  excited  dis- 
cussions on  the  steamboats,  and  the  pam- 
phlets scattered  over  the  country,  we  judged 
the  excitement  to  be  at  fever  heat. 

One  of  the  leading  papers  here  published 
a  review  of  Colonel  Robert  Ingersoll's  lec- 
tures on  the  Bible,  and  in  the  review  printed 
long  extracts  from  his  works,  and  for  this  the 
paper  has  been  summoned  before  the  court  of 
Norway  for  "blasphemy,"  and  this  is  also 
creating  a  great  deal  of  discussion,  some  of 
the  leading  papers  taking  the  ground  that  it 
is  interfering  with  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
others  that  it  is  a  dangerous,  unlawful  docu- 
ment to  print. 


To  the    Volga.  71 


V. 


THE  KING  AND  HIS  REALM.  DESPOTISM  TO- 
WARD SENTIMENT.  NORWAY  AND  SWEDEN 
CONTRASTED. 

OSCAR  II.  is  King  over  Norway  and  Swe- 
den, and  yet  the  two  nations  do  not  seem 
to  have  anything  else  in  common  ;  they  are 
only  united  for  defense.  Their  language, 
habits  and  laws  are  distinct.  Even  in  passing 
from  Norway  to  Sweden  we  had  to  undergo 
an  examination  of  our  baggage,  showing  that 
duties  are  charged  on  certain  articles  passing 
from  one  country  to  the  other.  The  King 
lives  most  of  the  time  in  Stockholm,  and  the 
people  of  Norway  are  jealous  of  it.  He 
comes  to  Christiana,  according  to  law,  when 
Parliament  convenes  in  September,  but  only 
remains  as  long  as  he  is  obliged  to,  in  order 
to  carry  out  the  law.  The  King  is  much 
liked  by  the  aristocracy,  and  seems  really  to 
be  a  man  of  ability  and  culture.  The  Ameri- 
can Consul  informed  us  that  a  literary  asso- 
ciation offered  a  premium  for  the  best  Scan- 


72       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

dinavian  poem.  The  committee  who  were  to 
decide  were  not  to  know  the  authors  of  the 
different  poems,  and  when  they  selected  the 
poem  they  considered  the  best,  they  found 
the  author  was  King  Oscar  II.,  which  much 
pleased  his  admirers  and  the  aristocracy. 

When  I  asked  the  peasants,  "  Why  do  you 
not  have  a  republic  in  Norway,  you  are  largely 
in  the  majority  ?"  they  replied,  "  We  would 
not  be  allowed  to  be  a  republic,  other  nations 
would  interfere."  The  situation  in  Norway 
is  becoming  daily  more  serious  ;  the  impeach- 
ment trial  of  the  ministers,  just  concluded, 
has  had  the  effect  of  irritating  the  King.  The 
late  premier,  whom  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  kingdom  sentenced  to  loss  of  office  and  a 
heavy  fine,  is  rewarded  with  the  Serafimer 
Cross,  the  highest  distinction  for  civic  merit ; 
and  another  minister,  who  was  also  fined  and 
censured  by  the  same  tribunal,  has  been  ap- 
pointed chief  of  a  new  cabinet.  All  the 
other  lately  appointed  ministers  are  extreme 
conservatives. 

•  Every  editor,  whether  in  Norway  or 
Sweden,  who  has  the  courage  to  criticize  the 
King's  conduct  with  any  degree  of  spirit,  is 
unceremoniously  thrown  into  jail,  preliminary 
to  trial  for  offending  his  Majesty.  With  the 


To  the    Volga.  73 

utmost  nonchalance  this  same  Majesty,  how- 
ever, writes  a  letter,  or  so-called  dictamen, 
expressing  his  opinion  of  the  Norwegian 
Parliament,  and  the  highest  tribunal  of  Nor- 
way, and  it  is  superfluous  to  remark  that  his 
opinion  is  highly  uncomplimentary  ;  but 
when  Bjorstjerne  Bjornson  in  turn  expresses 
an  equally  uncomplimentary  opinion  of  the 
dictamen,  its  royal  author  responds  by  trying 
the  editor  who  has  published  Bjornson's  let- 
ter for  crime n  laesae  majestatis.  Bjornson,  who 
has  been  living  in  Paris  during  the  last  year, 
as  soon  as  the  intelligence  reached  him,  took 
the  first  train  for  the  North,  and  has  now  ar- 
rived in  Norway,  and  declared  his  purpose 
to  assume  the  responsibility  for  his  own 
words.  Probably  he  has  been  imprisoned, 
though  no  intelligence  to  that  effect  has  yet 
reached  us.  Intense  excitement  is  reigning 
throughout  the  country,  and  everybody  asks 
his  neighbor,  with  bated  breath,  "  What  will 
happen  next?"  That  Bjornson  will  be  tried 
is  inevitable,  and  the  chances  are  that  in  that 
trial  the  Government  will  be  sowing  the  crop 
of  dragon-teeth  which  sooner  or  later  will 
sprout  forth  in  armed  men. 

Some  of  the  most  valuable  farms  in  Nor- 
way would  be  spurned  as  a  gift  by  American 


74       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

husbandmen,  who  are  seldom  content  with 
.places  of  sudden  undulation,  or  indeed,  with 
anything  but  pieces  of  rich  prairie  or  bottom 
land.  But  the  Norwegians  are  industrious 
and  thrifty  grangers,  have  comfortable  barns 
and  fine  cattle,  and  generations  of  families 
succeed  each  other  in  possessing  and  working 
their  mountain  farmsteads.  Their  houses  are 
substantially  constructed  of  wood,  and  inside 
there  is  an  air  of  comfort  and  cleanliness. 
But  what  of  the  farm  ?  "  Look  about  you," 
says  Chambers'  Journal,  "  mountains  hem  us 
in  on  all  sides  ;  there  is  no  room  for  fields  as 
we  know  them  at  home  ;  but  grass  grows 
luxuriantly  among  the  rocks,  with  -occasion- 
ally a  patch  as  large  as  an  ordinary  villa  gar- 
den ;  there  the  farmer  cuts  a  portion  of  his 
hay  crop  on  which  his  horses  and  cattle  are 
mainly  dependent  during  the  eight  winter 
months.  But  his  hay  field  is  yet  wider 
spread.  Glance  upwards  some  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet  there,  where  an  opening  occurs  in 
the  dwarf  birch,  and  you  will  observe  the 
diminished  form  of  a  man  busy  at  work. 
That  is  the  farmer,  a  thorough  mountaineer, 
cutting  the  grass  which  grows  on  yonder 
narrow  ledge  of  rock.  He  has  been  up  since 
early  morn,  and  will  probably  not  descend 


To  the    Volga.  75 

till  evening.  Not  a  tuft  of  grass  will  be  left 
ungathered  ;  not  a  foot  of  level  ground  on 
that  steep  and  rugged  mountain  side  but  will 
be  visited,  and  its  small  crop  carefully  re- 
moved by  the  industrious  bergsman.  If  he 
has  a  wide  stretch  of  field  (hill  pasture  or 
moorland)  in  his  boundary,  the  farmer  erects 
wooden  sheds,  in  which  he  stores  his  hay  till 
winter,  when,  by  an  ingenious  contrivance,  he 
has  the  whole  rapidly  and  easily  conveyed  to 
the  valley.  A  familiar  object  in  a  Norwegian 
glen  is  the  strong  steel  wire  which  stretches 
from  the  foot  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
Down  this  wire  the  bundles  of  hay  are  ex- 
peditiously  sent  without  labor,  and  then  car- 
ried in  sledges  to  the  steadings.  Without 
such  a  method  many  weary  journeys  would 
be  necessary  ere  the  hay  required  for  a  long 
winter  could  be  brought  down.  It  appears 
the  Norwegian  farmer  borrowed  the  idea  of 
his  Jiay  telegraph  from  his  brother  hillsmen 
of  'Lhe  Tyrol  about  eight  years  ago.  The  hay 
crop  is  the  product  of  natural  grass,  no  seed 
being  sown  nor  any  admixture  of  clover 
being  used. 

Norway  presents  us  with  the  grandest  pic- 
ture of  the  effects  of  peasant  proprietorship  ; 
there  the  land  has,  from  time  immemorial, 


76       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


been  the  property  of  the  laborer  who  tills  it — 
it  has  never  been  poisoned  by  the  foul  curse 
of  feudalism.  The  title  deeds  of  these  pea- 
sant holdings  are  in  a  dead  language,  and  the 
names  of  the  peasants  are  those  of  the  dis- 
trict ;  the  results  are  marvellous.  Land 
which  no  English  or  American  farmer  would 
or  could  cultivate  under  our  agricultural  sys- 
tem, even  if  receiving  a  liberal  bounty  per 
acre  instead  of  paying  rent,  is  there  made  to 
support  whole  families,  and  that  by  the  same 
race  as  ourselves  and  in  latitudes  hundreds 
of  miles  further  north,  some  of  it  even  within 
the  Arctic  circle. 

Sailing  along  the  coast  of  Norway  the 
tourist  passes  here  and  there  little  oases, 
called  "stations,"  where  the  steam  omnibus 
halts  to  land  and  embark  a  passenger  or  two. 
If  a  careful  observer,  he  may  learn  that  in  the 
midst  of  the  rocky  desolation  there  is  a  de- 
posit of  rock  fragments  and  gravel  left  by  an 
ancient  glacier  in  a  hollow  formerly  filled 
by  the  ice.  This  is  cultivated,  is  a  dairy  farm 
and  fishing  station,  farmers  and  fishers  being 
all  freeholders  and  capitalists,  no  such  class 
as  laborers  without  property  existing  there. 

One  of  the  grandest  of  the  Norwegian  fjords 
is  the  Geiranger  ;  it  is  walled  by  perpendicu- 


To  the    Volga.  77 

lar  precipices  from  one  thousand  to  three 
thousand  feet  high.  Sailing  along  the  fjord, 
a  boathouse  is  seen  here  and  thereat  the  foot 
of  the  dark  wall.  Looking  skyward  directly 
above  it  may  be  seen  what  appear  to  be  toy 
houses  on  a  gree.:  patch  ;  closer  observations 
reveals  moving  objects  ;  a  field-glass  shows 
that  they  are  cattle,  goats,  and  children, 
tethered  to  bowlders  to  prevent  them  from 
straying  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice.  A 
family  resides  up  there,  cultivating  this  bit  of 
ancient  ground,  backed  by  craggy  mountain 
tops,  with  a  foreground  of  precipice  above 
the  fjord.  The  only  cummunication  between 
these  eagle-nest  farmers  and  the  outer  world 
is  by  the  boat  below  ;  how  the  boat  is  reached, 
where  is  the  staircase  of  ledges  on  the  face  of 
the  precipice,  is  incomprehensible  to  the  pass- 
ing tourist ;  in  most  cases  no  indication  of  a 
track  is  visible.  Nothing  but  absolute  pro- 
prietorship by  the  cultivator  could  bring  such 
land  into  cultivation — latitute  sixty-two  de- 
grees, altitude  two  thousand  to  three  thous- 
and feet  ;  summer  only  three  to  four  months 
long  ;  the  ground  covered  with  snow  during 
six  to  eight  months  of  every  year— requires 
a  race  such  as  we  found  the  Norwegians  to 
be  :  intelligent,  kind,  frugal  and  industripus. 


78       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

The  five  hundred  thousand  of  them  now  in 
our  own  country,  and  more  coming  in  every 
year,  will  be  welcomed  as  the  right  kind  of 
citizens  to  make  good  republicans,  and  the 
more  that  come  the  better. 

We  had  the  good  luck  to  witness  a  very  in- 
teresting ceremonial — namely,  a  village  wed- 
ding, when  about  fifty  persons  assembled,  all 
in  their  holiday  costume — the  women  in 
bright-colored  petticoats  and  bodices,  with 
beautiful  white  chemisettes.  They  were  a 
very  pleasant  looking  group — the  men  strong, 
well-knit  fellows,  but  all  fair-skinned,  with 
flaxen  hair  and  kind  blue  eyes. 

The  bride  was  a  demure  young  woman, 
%somewhat  overweighted  with  necklaces  and 
bracelets  (which  we  understood  to  be  heir- 
looms), but  more  especially  by  an  immense 
gilt  crown  running  up  in  tall  points  to  a 
height  of  about  eight  inches,  and  studded  with 
many  colored  crystals.  It  was  a  most  gorge- 
ous head-dress,  and  belongs  to  the  village. 

Every  village  is  supposed  to  have  one, 
which  is  hired  for  the  occasion  by  the  parents 
of  the  bride.  But,  like  the  plain  ribbon  or 
snood  of  the  Scottish  highland  maid,  no  Nor- 
wegian bride  is  entitled  to  wear  this  crown  of 
honor  unless  her  character  is  above  suspicion  •, 


To  the    Volga.  79 

and  this,  unhappily,  is  so  very  exceptional, 
that  the  hiring  of  the  crown  is  now  consid- 
ered almost  invidious  on  the  part  of  the  few 
who  may  certainly  claim  it  ;  so  the  custom  is 
dying  out,  and  we  esteemed  ourselves  fortu- 
nate in  having  witnessed  a  nuptial  cermony  in 
which  this  picturesque  bridal  decoration  was 
worn. 

There  was  no  architectural  beauty  in  the 
very  plain,  barn-like  church,  \vhich  had  no 
pretense  at  decoration.  The  Lutheran  ser- 
vice, which,  of  course,  was  conducted  in  Nor- 
wegian, seemed  to  us  like  that  of  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian  church  All  the  men  sat  on  one 
side  and  the  women  on  the  other,  according 
to  the  usual  custom.  The  parson,  in  his 
black  gown  and  white  fluted  collar,  per- 
formed the  simple  service,  in  which  a  wed- 
ding ring  shaped  like  a  double  heart  did  duty 
in  place  of  our  plain  circlet.  He  then  as- 
cended the  pulpit  and  delivered  a  very  long 
exhortation  which,  being  beyond  our  com- 
prehension, was  to  us  only  suggestive  of 
Longfellow's  charming  lines  : — 

"  Long  was  the  good  man's  sermon, 
Yet  it  seemed  not  long  to  me 
For  he  spake  of  Ruth  the  beautiful, 
And  still  I  thought  of  thee." 


80       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

There  was  one  feature  in  the  ceremony 
which  we  noted  with  especial  interest,  therein 
recognizing  a  lingering  trace  of  pre-Christian 
days.  The  pulpit  stands  in  the  centre  of  a 
large  chancel,  and,  at  a  pause  in  the  service, 
all  the  wedding  party  walked  solemnly  thrice 
around  it,  in  sidewise  procession — a  pretty 
revival  of  old  Norse  paganism. 

Any  one  with  an  observing  eye  cannot  but 
notice  a  great  difference  between  Norway 
and  Sweden,  while  visiting  the  two  countries, 
although  under  one  king,  Oscar  II.,  who  is  a 
Swede.  The  relation  between  the  two  coun- 
tries does  not  seem  to  be  cordial,  and  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if  there  should  be, 
before  many  years,  a  permanent  breach.  The 
constitutions  are  quite  different,  that  of  Nor- 
way being  more  democratic  in  its  character 
than  that  of  the  sister  kingdom,  and  t'rfe  peo- 
ple of  the  former  seem  more  democratic,  and 
do  not  worship  the  king,  as  many  seem  to  do 
in  Sweden.  There  have  been,  however,  great 
changes  in  the  Constitution  of  Sweden  since 
1860,  under  Oscar  I.,  who  was  exceedingly 
popular,  and  the  Constitution  of  Sweden  has 
been  brought  more  into  harmony  with  that 
of  Norway,  with  its  two  Chambers,  both  now 
elective. 


To  the    Volga.  81 

In  visiting  the  half  dozen  splendid  palaces, 
maintained  by  the  two  governments  for  the 
king,  four  in  Sweden  and  two  -in  Norway, 
one  can  not  but  wonder  that  intelligent  peo- 
ple could  be  satisfied  at  the  immense  expense 
it  involves  to  keep  up  royalty.  With  a  popu- 
lation of  only  about  five  million  (two  million 
in  Norway,  and  three  million  in  Sweden) 
these  great  palaces  are  kept  up  just  to  sup- 
port the  king's  family.  The  cost  of  the 
palaces,  and  maintaining  of  the  king's  house- 
hold, no  doubt  is  more  than  it  costs  to  main- 
tain all  the  great  benevolent  and  educational 
institutions  and  hospitals  in  any  one  State  of 
the  United  States. 

I  took  note  of  what  I  saw  in  the  palaces, 
and  the  beautiful  grounds  and  hunting  parks 
attached  to  them,  but  to  go  into  the  details 
of  what  I  saw  would  be  only  a  repetition  of 
what  has  already  been  described  in  other 
countries.  Gold  and  silver  dining  sets,  the 
most  expensive  paintings  and  statuary, 
Sevres  ware,  and  gobelin  tapestry,  and  furni- 
ture of  the  most  expensive  nature,  are  not  too 
good  for  each  of  the  six  palaces  of  the  King 
of  Sweden  and  Norway. 

In  traveling  through  the  two  countries  we 
did  not  see  school-houses  scattered  along  the 


82       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

country,  as  in  the  United  States,  and  on  in- 
quiry of  our  courier,  I  learn  that  the  schools 
in  the  country  are  held  in  the  farm-houses. 
Education  in  Sweden  and  Norway  is  compul- 
sory, all  children  being  required  to  attend 
school  who  cannot  satisfy  the  authorities  that 
they  are  receiving  sufficient  education  at 
home. 

In  Sweden  places  of  instruction  are  divided 
into  three  kinds,  the  folkskolor,  or  "  people's 
schools,"  answering  to  our  public  schools  ; 
all  mannaskolor,  "  public  schools,"  which  are 
to  be  found  in  all  the  larger  towns,  and  the 
universities.  All  of  these  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  ecclesiastical  (and  educational) 
department,  and  partly  under  the  bishops 
and  clergy  of  the  diocese  to  which  they  belong. 

The  State  churches  are  Lutheran.  The  re- 
ligious instruction  is  entirely  under  the 
management  of  the  pastor.  The  minimum  of 
subjects  taught  before  a  pupil  can  leave 
school  and  be  confirmed,  are  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  church  catechism,  Bible  history 
and  singing.  But  the  higher  branches  are 
also  taught.  Besides  these,  popular  schools 
of  a  more  advanced  kind,  called  folkhogskolor, 
designed  to  give  a  higher  culture  to  the  labor- 
ing classes,  are  being  established  in  different 


To  the   Volga.  83 

parts  of  the  country.  To  each  of  the  higher 
schools  a  library  is  attached.  In  all  schools 
botany  is  taught  in  the  lower  classes.  The 
bishop  of  each  diocese  seems  to  have  control 
of,  or  is  supervisor,  of  the  schools  in  the  dio- 
cese, and  he  appoints  an  inspector  for  each 
school. 

Great  importance  is  attached  to  gymnastic 
exercises  throughout  Sweden,  both  as  a 
means  of  giving  a  healthy  physique,  and  also 
as  a  remedy  against  certain  kinds  of  bodily 
ailment.  For  such  purposes  the  Gymnastika 
Centralinstiut  was  founded  by  Per  Henzik 
Ling,  the  great  inventor  of  Swedish  gymnas- 
tics. This  establishment  is  divided  into  three 
departments.  One  to  train  officers  to  super- 
intend gymnastics  in  the  army  and  navy.  A 
second  to  train  teachers  of  gymnastics  for  the 
town  and  country  schools,  and  a  third  for  the 
study  of  gymnastics  as  a  system  of  medical 
treatment.  The  system  has  been  adopted 
with  more  or  less  success  in  Germany,  Eng- 
land, and  other  countries. 

We  visited  the  great  university  at  Upsala, 
with  its  one  thousand  two  hundred  students, 
about  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  Stockholm. 
This  is  considered  the  historical  and  intel- 
lectual centre  of  the  kingdom  to  which  it 


84       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

belongs.  Anciently  it  also  formed  the  strong- 
hold of  Paganism,  memorials  of  which 
abound  in  the  tombs  and  monuments  of  the 
neighborhood.  The  town  looked  old,  and 
does  not  have  the  appearance  of  life  and 
thrift.  The  old  cathedral  is  the  first  object 
that  attracts  attention.  It  was  begun  in  the 
year  1260,  and  finished  in  1435.  It  *s  built 
upon  the  site  of  the  old  heathen  temple, 
Upsala,  an  edifice  spoken  of  in  the  early  Saga 
legends  to  have  been  of  enormous  size  and 
immense  wealth. 

We  were  here  more  interested  to  see  the 
place  where  the  great  Linnaeus  was  buried 
in  the  cathedral  than  to  see  the  tombs  of  the 
Kings  of  Sweden.  We  were  shown  the  place 
where  Linnaeus  lived  ;  we  see  the  evidences 
of  his  genius  in  the  great  botanical  institu- 
tion built  here  in  connection  with  the  college 
herbarium,  fine  floral  collection  and  many 
rare  plants,  although  in  latitude  of  more  than 
sixty  degrees.  There  is  a  fine  building  in  the 
gardens,  with  a  good  statue  of  Linnaeus  in  a 
sitting  posture  with  a  book,  on  which  is  the 
little  flower  called  Linnaa  borealis,  which 
has  been  adopted  as  the  emblem  of  the  great 
botanist.  We  saw  this  flower  in  the  pine 
forests  in  the  north  of  Norway,  and  picked  a 


To  the    Volga.  85 

quantity  of  it  to  bring  home  with  us. 
Linnaeus  is  called,  by  the  Swedes  "  The 
King  of  Flowers."  He  was  the  first  one  to 
perfect  anything  like  a  systematic  and 
scientific  manner  of  classification  of  plants 
and  animals. 

In  the  library  we  see  the  famous  Codex 
Argejitiis,  a  translation  of  the  four  gospels 
into  Maeso  Gothic  by  Bishop  Uphilas,  dating 
from  the  fourth  century,  written  on  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  leaves  of  parchment, 
in  gold  and  silver  letters,  on  a  reddish 
ground — this  was  captured  in  the  thirty 
years'  war.  We  are  shown  here  the  three 
great  mounds,  or  burial  places,  from  the 
bronze  age.  They  are  attributed  to  the 
heathen  gods  Odin,  Thor  and  Frey,  whence 
we  have  Onsday  (Wednesday),  Thorsday 
(Thursday),  Freyday  (Friday).  These  mounds 
look  very  much  like  the  mounds  seen  in 
many  of  the  Middle  and  Western  States,  and 
are  interesting  as  suggesting  the  sources  of 
our  names  for  the  days  of  the  week.  The 
highest  mound,  sixty-four  feet,  was  cut 
through  in  1864,  to  enable  the  Universal 
Ethnographical  Congress,  that  met  in  Upsala, 
to  examine  the  inside  of  it.  Fragments  of  a 
skeleton  and  some  ornaments  were  found. 


86        From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


Hundreds  of  smaller  mounds  can  be  seen  for 
miles  around. 

Stockholm  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
cities  in  Europe,  and  has  a  population  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  to  two 
hundred  thousand.  The  situation  of  it  on 
islands,  on  a  plain  and  on  rocky  hills,  sur- 
rounded by  water  and  numerous  islands  in 
almost  every  direction,  makes  it  exceedingly 
picturesque,  and  it  is  well  called  the  "Venice 
of  the  North."  From  the  Belvidere  and  the 
top  of  the  elevator  one  is  astonished  at  the 
lovely  panorama  of  the  city,  and  its  forest  of 
trees  and  rocks  which  surround  it  ;  Lake 
Malar,  with  the  beautiful  islands  covered 
with  verdure,  the  summer  villas  of  the  wealthy 
citizens,  and  the  fifty  steamers  plying  in  every 
direction  ;  the  Baltic  at  our  feet,  with  its 
busy  traffic,  all  presents  a  scene  of  unrivalled 
beauty  and  attractiveness. 

We  are  glad  to  have  Sunday  come,  and  to 
take  a  day  of  rest,  for  this  sight-seeing  keeps 
one  busy  with  body  and  mind.  We  attended 
service  at  the  cathedral,  and  at  the  Katharina 
Kyaka,  founded  in  1609,  on  the  spot  where 
the  victims  of  the  "  Stockholm  Bloodbath," 
of  1389,  had  been  interred,  where  a  large  num- 
ber of  burghers  had  been  cruelly  murdered. 


To  the    Volga.  87 

\Ve  notice  the  priests  in  Sweden  do  not 
wear  the  Eii.zabethian  collar  as  in  Norway. 
The  services  seemed  to  us  just  like  those  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  ;  the  priest  be- 
fore the  altar  in  his  scarlet  and  gold  vest- 
ments, and  the  ringing  of  the  little  bells  and 
turning  his  face  to  the  altar,  with  his  back  to 
the  audience,  and  many  other  things  gave  it 
the  appearance  of  a  Catholic  rather  than  a 
Lutheran  church. 

We  expected  to  hear  splendid  music  in  the 
city  of  Jennie  Lind  and  Christina  Nillsson, 
who  have  so  charmed  us  by  their  wonderful 
voices ;  no  one  has  ever  seemed  to  me  to 
equal  Jennie  Lind  in  the  bird-like  sweetness 
of  her  voice.  But  the  music  in  the  churches 
has  slow,  minor  tones,  and  nothing  especially 
to  note  in  the  voices  in  any  of  the  churches 
which  we  attended.  Near  this  church  is  the 
house  where  Swedenborg,  the  celebrated 
mathematician,  philosopher  and  author  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  church  doctrines,  lived  ;  our 
guide  informed  us  that  there  are  none  of  his 
followers  in  Sweden,  but  that  an  Englishman 
(there  are  many  of  those  who  follow  his  relig- 
ious system  in  England)  purchased  the  little 
summer  house  that  was  in  the  garden,  and 
took  it  to  England. 


88       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

All  about  the  city,  on  the  islands,  where 
one  goes  by  steamer,  are  gardens,  and  one 
hears  most  delightful  music.  On  Sunday 
evening  there  were  great  crowds  of  people 
at  King  Park,  in  the  center  of  the  city,  to 
hear  the  music  and  to  promenade  ;  opposite 
our  hotel  near  the  palace,  on  the  River  Nord, 
which  runs  rapidly  between  Lake  Malar  and 
the  Baltic,  is  a  garden  where  every  night  is 
music  and  we  found  this  a  most  attractive 
place. 

Our  ride  by  steamer  to  Drottingholm  Pal- 
ace on  Lake  Malar,  a  lake  about  eighty  miles 
long,  with  over  one  thousand  two  hundred 
islands  on  which  are  many  beautiful  villas, 
the  summer  residences  of  the  wealthy  citizens 
of  Stockholm,  was  an  enchanting  one.  The 
palace  was  built  in  the  sixteenth  century  and 
contains  many  sumptuously  furnished  apart- 
ments and  paintings,  and  the  grounds  are 
laid  out  in  the  old  French  style  with  sculp- 
ture in  bronze  and  marble. 

There  seems  to  be  something  new  to  see  in 
Stockholm  every  day,  and  our  time  there 
seemed  altogether  too  short,  and  we  put  this 
city  down  as  a  place  to  visit  again.  The  pic- 
ture gallery  in  the  museum  building  contains 
many  works  of  art  by  the  old  masters,  but  we 


To  the    Volga.  89 

were  glad  to  turn  our  attention  to  those  of 
the  Swedish  school  which  represent  land- 
scape, fjord,  lake  and  mountain  scenery  by 
Tidemand,  whose  paintings  in  Oscar  Hall, 
in  Christiana,  around  the  dining-room  near 
the  ceiling  and  representing  the  "  Seven  Ages 
of  Peasant  Life,"  certainly  indicate  that  he  is 
one  of  the  best  artists  in  Scandinavia  ;  and 
his  paintings  here,  where  there  are  quite  a 
number,  show  great  genius  as  an  artist,  and 
the  people  are  proud  of  him  ;  our  consul  at 
Christiana  thinks  he  is  superior  to  any  other 
Swedish  artist. 

I  have  before  remarked  that  they  have 
adopted  in  Norway  and  Swreden  the  "  Gotten- 
borg  system  "  of  regulating  the  liquor  traffic  ; 
it  is  sold  to  what  is  called  a  Temperance 
Company,  who  must  pay  all  profits  into  the 
municipality,  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  sell 
who  has  any  interest  in  the  profits.  Or  a 
city  or  a  district  may  refuse  to  sell  liquor  at 
retail.  Liquor  shops  are  closed  in  the  coun- 
try, and  in  town  may  be  closed  by  the  author- 
ities, on  Sunday  and  holidays.  Stockholm 
adopted  the "  Gottenborg  system"  in  1877, 
and  the  police  statistics  show  that  drunk- 
enness and  crime  are  steadily  decreasing. 

At  the  tables,  at  hotels  and  private  houses, 


90       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

they  have  a  liquor  called  pomaraine,  a  kind  of 
"  schnaaps,"  and  most  of  the  gentlemen  and 
ladies  drink  a  small  wine-glass  full  before 
eating,  which  they  say  is  an  appetizer.  It  is 
villainous  tasting  stuff  with  a  flavor  like 
chloroform  and  is  made  of  potatoes.  They 
have  a  curious  custom  before  each  meal  ;  a 
decanter  of  this  liquor  is  placed  on  a  side 
table  with  all  kinds  of  cold  meat  and  fish,  and 
the  guests  are  invited  into  the  dining-room, 
each  one  steps  up  and  takes  a  glass  of  liquor 
and  helps  himself  to  the  cold  meats,  then 
walks  around  the  room  or  out  of  doors  and 
chats  for  awhile  before  he  is  invited  to  sit 
down  to  a  regular  warm  meal.  Some  of  the 
party,  not  understanding  this  custom,  made 
the  full  meal  on  the  cold  viands,  not  knowing 
that  they  were  merely  an  introduction,  or 
appetizer  as  they  call  it. 


To  the    Volga.  91 


VI. 


ACROSS    THE    BALTIC    TO    FINLAND.       THE    CHAR- 
ACTER   OF    THE    FINS. 

OUR  ride  across  the  Baltic  Sea,  from  Stock- 
holm to  Finland  was  one  of  the  most 
charming  of  our  tour  ;  the  scenery,  for  forty 
miles,  until  you  reach  the  open  sea,  is  one  of 
continued  picturesque  islands,  and  on  each 
side  are  more  of  the  beautiful  villas  of  the 
wealthy  citizens  of  Stockholm. 

After  a  good  night's  sleep  and  a  smooth 
sea,  we  find  ourselves  in  the  morning  winding 
our  way  among  the  innumerable  Aland 
Islands ;  the  sailing  is  intricate  and  danger- 
ous, but  picturesque  ;  we  are  obliged  to  stop 
nights  on  account  of  the  danger  and  diffi- 
culty in  navigating  among  the  rocks. 

The  Gulf  of  Finland,  which  we  enter,  is  in 
possession  of  Russia ;  by  occupying  the 
Aland  Islands  she  is  only  twenty  miles  from 
Stockholm,  and  is,  therefore,  brought  into 
close  proximity  to  Sweden.  Our  passengers 
on  the  steamer  are  mostly  Fins  and  a  few 


g±       Prom  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

Russians,  and  a  more  intelligent  class  of 
people  than  the  former  we  never  met  ;  they 
were  evidently  from  the  higher  classes,  and 
one  of  the  young  ladies  was  reported  to  be 
the  belle  of  the  capital  of  Finland.  Of  the 
party,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  a  member  of 
the  Senate,  could  speak  a  little  English,  and 
they  gave  us  much  valuable  information. 

Russians  are  quite  jealous  of  the  privileges 
granted  by  the  Emperor  Alexander  I.  to  Fin- 
land on  the  conquest  of  the  country,  and 
these  have  been  further  guaranteed  by  suc- 
ceeding Emperors  ;  they  have  a  Senate  of 
their  own,  composed  of  two  hundred  mem- 
bers, belonging  to  four  orders — nobility, 
clergy,  elected  by  the  clergy  and  professors 
of  colleges  ;  the  industrial  interests  repre- 
senting the  large  towns  and  cities,  and  the 
peasants  representing  the  farmers.  It  is 
necessary  that  all  or  a  majority  agree  in  pas- 
sing any  law,  and  no  troops  can  be  raised 
without  their  consent  ;  in  the  Crimean  war 
only  about  five  hundred  troops  were  from 
Finland,  just  enough  to  say  to  the  Emperor 
that  she  was  represented  ;  they  have  their 
own  army  and  navy,  educational  and  postal 
systems. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  not  called  Empe- 


:     A  LAPLANDER'S  HfT. 


To  the   Volga.  93 

ror  of  Finland,  but  Grand  Duke  of  Finland. 
The  population  is  over  two  million  ;  they  are 
mostly  Protestants  (Lutherans),  and  they  are 
obliged  to  teach  their  own  language  and  not 
the  Russian  in  their  schools  ;  indeed  they  are 
allowed  a  kind  of  local  self-government. 
They  do  not  like  Russia,  but  with  Russia 
"  might  makes  right,"  and  they  cannot  help 
themselves,  as  Russia  feels  the  importance  of 
controlling  the  Baltic,  and  until  her  surrender 
to  Peter  the  Great,  in  1809,  Finland  was  fight- 
ing the  ground  between  Russia  and  Sweden 
continually. 

We  stop  at  Abo,  the  former  capital  of  Fin- 
land, which  was  removed  to  Helsingfors  on 
account  of  her  people  being  wanting  in  loy- 
alty to  Russia.  We  had  been  warned  to  have 
our  passports  "  vised  "  by  the  Russian  Consul 
at  Berlin,  and  to  be  doubly  prepared,  we  had 
it  done  also  before  leaving  Stockholm  ;  at 
Abo,  a  number  of  Russian  custom-officers 
came  on  board  the  steamer  and  took  our  pass- 
ports, and  examined  closely  our  baggage,  but 
in  a  gentlemanly  manner,  quite  in  contrast 
with  some  of  our  New  York  custom-house 
officers. 

No  person  is  allowed  to  go  in  or  out  of 
Russia,  not  even  her  own  citizens,  without  a 


94       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

passport  ;  the  officers  examined  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  steamer,  taking  the  bed- 
clothes from  the  berths  and  looking  under 
them  ;  the  captain  informed  us  that  he  is  sub- 
ject to  a  heavy  fine  if  any  one  is  found  on 
the  steamer  without  a  passport. 

We  got  into  a  "  drosky,"  a  peculiar  low 
kind  of  a  vehicle,  for  a  drive  about  the  city, 
and  especially  to  visit  the  old  cathedral.  Abo 
is  the  most  ancient  city  in  Finland  and  has  a 
population  of  over  twenty-five  thousand,  not 
a  large  number  for  a  city  that  dates  from  the 
twelfth  century,  when  Christianity  was  first 
introduced  into  this  .wild  and  cold  region. 
The  cathedral  of  "  Saint  Henriks  "  is  not  in- 
teresting architecturally,  but  historically  ;  it 
was  the  cradle  of  Christianity  in  Finland  ;  the 
vaults  of  the  chapels  are  like  the  Catacombs 
and  are  filled  with  the  remains  of  the  early 
distinguished  families.  On  one  of  the  monu- 
ments is  an  epitaph  to  "  Catherina  Mans- 
dotten,"  a  girl  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the 
people  by  Eric  XIV.,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
and  who,  after  having  won  the  Swedish  dia- 
dem, returned  to  Finland  and  died  in  ob- 
scurity, while  her  royal  husband  ended  his 
days  in  prison. 

There  is  a  beautiful  stained  window  in  the 


To  the   Volga.  95 

chapel,  representing  the  Queen  Catherina, 
leaving  her  glory  and  grandeur,  which  she 
bequeaths  to  Sweden,  and  descending  the 
steps  to  the  throne,  with  her  hand  affection- 
ately placed  on  the  shoulders  of  a  page, 
which  typifies  Finland.  The  other  page,  of 
whom  she  appears  to  be  taking  leave,  repre- 
senting Sweden.  Many  ancient  monuments 
are  here,  but  the  most  interesting,  the  bones 
of  Saint  Henriks,  have  been  removed  to  Saint 
Petersburg.  There  is  here  an  old  castle, 
built  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  other  ob- 
jects of  interest.  We  ascend  the  observatory 
in  the  botanical  gardens,  and  get  a  fine  view 
of  the  beautiful  city  and  surrounding  country. 


g6       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


VII. 

* 

ST.    PETERSBURG,  THE    GREAT  CAPITAL.      SIGHTS 
OF    INTEREST.        THE    PALACE    AND    FORTRESSES. 

WE  can  hardly  realize  that  we  are  in  this 
great  city  of  a  million  population, 
founded  by  Peter  the  Great,  in  1703.  Some 
one  describes  St.  Petersburg  as  "  the  eye  by 
which  Russia  looks  upon  Europe."  It  is  built 
on  both  banks  of  the  Neva,  and  on  several 
islands,  which  one  can  see  from  the  cupola  of 
St.  Isaac  in  a  clear  day.  Fourteen  rivers  and 
streams,  and.  eight  canals,  intersect  the  city 
in  various  parts.  It  was  the  design  of  Peter 
the  Great  to  build  the  city  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Neva,  formerly  belonging  to  Sweden, 
which  was  taken  "by  him  from  Sweden,  but 
his  councillors  advised  a  different  course,  as 
Sweden  might  win  back  her  possessions,  and 
he  would  lose  his  city. 

Everywhere  one  sees  relics  of  this  wonder- 
ful man.  Our  second  day  in  St.  Petersburg 
was  a  holiday — "  Transfiguration  day  " — and 
we  concluded  to  spend  our  time  in  visiting 


To  the    Volga.  97 

the  churches,  and  witnessing  the  services,  and 
seeing  the  people.  Our  hotel  is  on  St.  Isaac's 
square.  Our  rooms  front  the  grand  old 
cathedral  of  St.  Isaac,  and  we  never  tire  of 
admiring  its  grand  proportions  of  "  modified 
Byzantine  "  simple  and  lofty  style  of  archi- 
tecture. 

All  the  ground  about  St.  Petersburg  is  flat 
and  uninteresting,  but  the  situation  of  the 
cathedral  is  on  one  of  the  largest  squares,  and 
is  surrounded  by  lofty,  splendid  buildings, 
which  give  to  it  an  imposing  appearance.  It 
is  remarkable  how  different  from  most  of  tHe 
Greek  churches  it  is,  with  hardly  an  orna- 
ment, built  of  stone  from  the  Finland  granite 
quarries.  There  are  one  hundred  and  twelve 
pillars,  sixty  feet  high  and  seven  feet  in 
diameter.  Over  the  main  building  is  the 
central  cupola,  about  three  hundred  feet 
high,  supported  by  thirty  pillars  of  polished 
granite.  The  cupola  is  covered  with  gold, 
and  on  the  top  ball  is  a  golden  cross,  three 
hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  above  the  ground. 
One  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds  of  gold 
cover  the  cupola,  not  including  the  cross.  The 
interior  of  the  church  is  grand  and  gorgeous 
in  the  extreme,  with  its  different  colored 
malachite  colums  and  lapis  lazuli  pillars.  The 


98       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

floor  and  walls  are  of  polished  marble  from  the 
Russian  quarries  in  Siberia.  All  the  beauti- 
ful paintings  on  the  walls  are  by  Russian 
artists.  The  gilding  is  profuse,  as  in  all 
Greek  churches.  We  were  glad  to  be  located 
near  it,  that  we  may  often  visit  it,  and  get  a 
view  of  the  city  after  ascending  nearly  five 
hundred  and  fifty  steps.  It  was  commenced 
by  Catherine  II.,  but  half  completed  by  Paul. 
One  Russian  writer  paid  the  penalty  of  exile 
to  Siberia  by  saying,  "  This  church  is  a  sym- 
bol of  three  reigns,  granite,  brick  and  destruc- 
tion." One  notices,  on  entering  a  Greek 
church,  large  piles  of  candles,  which  are 
being  sold  to  every  one  that  comes  in, 
who  light  them  and  go  up  to  the  altar, 
or  pass  them  up  through  the  crowd  of 
worshippers,  to  be  placed  in  one  of  the 
holes  in  a  large  silver  stand,  after  crossing 
his  breast  a  number  of  times  with  the  thumb 
and  two  forefingers  of  his  right  hand  and 
falling  oh  his  knees  before  the  altar.  His 
prayers  are  short,  and  he  goes  out  with  his 
face  to  the  altar,  kneeling  and  crossing  him- 
self. They  seem  to  think  the  offering  of  a 
lighted  candle  has  some  miraculous  power 
which  saves  them  from  their  sins.  I  under- 
stand the  sale  of  wax  candles  is  a  source  of 


To  the    Volga.  99 

large  income  to  the  church.  We  saw  a  babe 
in  the  mother's  arms  placing  a  candle  in  its 
place  and  crossing  itself  under  its  mother's 
instructions.  "  Flame  with  the  worshippers 
is  a  symbol  of  the  continued  life  of  the  good." 

Every  one  in  these  crowded  churches  to- 
day, men,  women  and  children,  seemed  so 
sad  and  devotional,  that  one  could  not  but 
feel  that  this  was  true  devotion  to  their 
Maker  according  to  their  knowledge.  There 
are  no  sacred  ceremonies,  no  marriage,  no 
burial,  and  no  baptism  without  a  light,  either 
lamp  or  wax  candle,  and  illuminations  are  a 
great  feature  in  Russian  churches. 

There  are  no  organs  or  musical  instruments 
in  their  churches,  and  all  the  voices  are  male. 
We  never  listened  to  such  grand,  harmonious 
music,  as  we  heard  in  the  Russian  churches. 
We  were  told  that  the  choicest  music  was  at 
the  "  Monastery  of  St.  Alexander  Nevsky," 
one  of  the  most  noted  in  Russia,  and  for  its 
building  and  decoration  Peter  the  Great  ex- 
pended immense  sums.  The  marble  was 
brought  from  foreign  countries,  the  precious 
stones  from  Siberia,  and  pearls  in  abundance. 
Paintings  from  Rubens,  and  other  of  the  old 
masters,  adorn  the  walls.  The  shrine  of 
Alexander  Nevsky  is  of  silver,  and  weighs 


ioo     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

nearly  thirty-five  thousand  pounds.  Over  it 
are  silver  angels  as  large  as  life,  with  silver 
trumpets,  as  everywhere  there  are  life-size 
portraits  of  Peter  the  Great  and  Catharine 
II.  The  archbishop  officiated  to-day,  and  the 
ceremony  was  extremely  gorgeous  with  the 
gold  and  silver  wardrobes  of  the  archbishop 
and  priests.  On  one  side  of  the  altar  were 
thirty-five  monks,  and  opposite  thirty-five  boy 
singers.  The  bishop  would  intone  the 
prayers,  and  one  side  would  respond  and 
then  the  other,  and  following  altogether. 
The  bishop  was  very  large,  with  a  rich,  heavy 
bass  voice,  and  we  never  heard  such  soprano 
and  alto  voices  from  any,  however,  as  these 
monks  possessed.  The  harmony  was  like  the 
rich  tones  of  an  organ,  rising  to  the  grandest 
sounds,  and  falling  to  the  minor,  soft,  sweet 
tones  of  the  organ.  There  did  not  seem  to  be 
many  voices,  but  one  voice.  We  never  ex- 
perienced such  thrilling  delight  in  music. 
The  bishop  seemed  to  be  preparing  for  sacra- 
ment, and  the  unleavened  cakes  were  borne 
on  a  silver  altar  by  six  priests  through  the 
cathedral,  followed  by  a  procession  of  priests, 
and  the  altar  placed  on  the  floor,  where  the 
carpet,  or  rug,  had  been  prepared  for  it,  and 
the  singers  all  marched  down  singing  ;  and. 


RUSSIAN  VILLAGE  AND  PEASANTS. 


To  the    Volga. 


after  various  performances  and  burning  of 
incense,  and  swinging  silver  incense  lamps, 
they  return  to  the  main  altar,  after  stopping 
at  different  places,  once  directly  in  front  of 
us,  and  the  singing  was  continued  until  the 
end  of  the  service.  All  of  the  service  by  the 
voice  was  intoning  or  singing. 

The  church  is  a  fashionable  one,  and  the 
Emperor  is  sometimes  present.  They  show 
you  in  the  cloister  an  immense  number  of 
gold  staffs,  pearls  and  precious  stones,  and 
the  bed  on  which  Peter  died. 

We  visit  the  "  Preobrajenski,"  or  fortress 
church,  adorned  within  and  without  with 
trophies  from  conquered  nations.  We  found 
the  greatest  crowd  of  people  here,  outside  and 
in,  and  we  could  hardly  push  our  way  through, 
so  great  was  the  mass  of  human  beings,  all 
peasants  or  common  people,  with  the  peculiar 
dress  of  the  women,  with  red  bodices  and  red 
handkerchiefs  on  their  heads.  We  soon 
learned  the  cause  of  the  crowd.  Alexander 
II. 's  uniform  and  sword,  with  spots  of  blood 
upon  it,  which  he  wore  when  assassinated, 
were  exposed  to  view  in  a  silver  case,  and  the 
people  lingered  around  it  as  if  the  Czar  had 
just  been  killed.  I  understand  the  people 
never  weary  of  looking  at  them  and  stopping 


102     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

at  the  beautiful  chapel  erected  where  the 
bombs  exploded  and  the  Czar  was  killed. 
Even  shrines  are  in  the  railroad  stations  with 
a  picture  of  him,  which  the  people  worship. 
Evidently  the  common  people  are  loyal  to  the 
autocratic  power,  and  they  do  not  forget  that 
Alexander  II.  saved  more  men  from  slavery 
than  any  other  human  being  by  the  eman- 
cipation of  twenty-two  million  of  serfs  in 
1861,  giving  them  their  liberty.  The  Nihi- 
lists evidently  do  not  come  from  this  class, 
but,  as  our  intelligent  guide  said,  from 
the  nobles  who  had  their  means  of  sup- 
port taken  from  them  by  the  emancipation 
act.  They  were  accustomed  to  hire  out 
their  serfs  and  received  a  large  income 
from  that  source,  and  the  enemies  of  the 
government  are  in  its  own  household.  The 
lower  classes,  our  guide  informed  us,  would 
almost  take  the  life  of  any  one  heard  saying 
anything  against  the  Czar. 

Sunday  was  as  quiet  and  orderly  a  day  in 
St.  Petersburg  as  in  any  city  in  the  world,  and 
the  churches  in  the  morning  were  crowded 
with  people,  and  the  great  bells,  one  weighing 
sixty-four  thousand  pounds,  of  St.  Isaac's,  and 
the  numerous  other  bells  awakened  us  with 
their  melodious  silvery  sounds. 


To  the    Volga.  103 

We  went  to  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral  and  heard 
a  sermon.  By  the  attention  given  by  the 
great  audience  standing  (there  are  no  seats  in 
the  Russian  churches),  we  have  no  doubt  they 
were  deeply  interested,  and  there  must  have 
been  an  immense  sale  of  wax  candles  from  the 
number  burning  around  the  church. 

We  went  from  there  to  the  English  Episco- 
pal Church,  and  found  a  small  audience  and 
heard  an  impotent  sermon  that  we  could 
understand.  We  enjoyed  the  singing  and 
services  in  our  own  language. 

We  witnessed  a  number  of  funerals  on  the 
street,  some  with  pall-bearers  dressed  in  black, 
bearing  the  corps  on  their  shoulders,  followed 
by  a  little  family,  weeping,  on  foot,  and  other 
funerel  processions  with  the  hearse  covered 
with  gold  and  silver  trappings  and  white 
plumes  and  silver  harness  upon  the  splendid 
large  black  horses,  with  a  retinue  of  splendid 
carriages.  One  thing  was  noticeable — that 
when  a  funeral  procession  passes,  no  matter 
who  they  wrere,  all  take  off  their  hats  and  stop 
a  minute.  It  is  wonderful  how  the  people  of 
all  classes,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  seem 
to  worship  the  Czar  and  the  church,  as  they 
are  one  with  them. 


104     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


VIII. 

THE     FAMOUS     CATHEDRALS.        FOUNDLING    HOS- 
PITALS.      VERITABLY    "  A    CITY    OF    PALACES." 

A  LARGE  cathedral  is  to  be  erected  on 
the  spot  where  the  Czar  was  assassinated, 
and  twelve  million  rubles  had  already  been 
raised  for  that  purpose.  Among  the  other 
cathedrals  we  visited  was  the  Kazan,  dedi- 
cated to  our  Lady  of  Kazan.  It  is  built 
after  the  style  of  St.  Peter's  of  Rome. 
Diamonds  and  precious  stones  of  the  most 
costly  and  exquisite  beauty  are  seen  every- 
where ;  but  the  silver  case  contained,  as 
the  priest  showed  us,  the  genuine  right 
hand  of  "  John  the  Baptist,"  a  piece  of 
"  the  Holy  Cross  of  our  Saviour,"  "  a  Picture  of 
Saint  Luke,"  taken  from  life,  "  a  piece  of  the 
shirt  of  our  Saviour,"  and  a  miraculous  image 
of  the  Virgin,  brought  from  Kazan  in  1579, 
covered  with  fine  gold  and  precious  stones, 
valued  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
There  are  a  great  many  churches  here,  and 


To  the    Volga.  105 

it  would   tire  the     reader  to  follow  us  with 
all  of  interest  that  we  saw. 

Another  great  crowd  was  at  Peter  the 
Great's  cottage,  which  was  the  first  house  and 
cottage  he  built  in  1703.  A  great  many 
things,  including  the  celebrated  boat  of  Peter 
the  Great,  which  he  built  and  sailed  himself, 
having  served  as  an  apprentice  to  a  ship- 
builder. The  great  crowd  seemed  to  be  push- 
ing their  way  to  a  little  chapel  which  was  for- 
merly used  for  his  dining-room.  Candles 
were  sold  and  lighted,  and  carried  to  the 
altar,  and  we  are  informed  that  all  Russians 
leaving  St.  Petersburg  on  a  journey,  come 
here  and  make  an  offering  to  the  miraculous 
image  of  the  saviour  which  accompanied  Peter 
the  Great  in  his  battles,  an<J  assisted  at  the 
battle  of  "  Poltava."  They  believe  if  they  do 
this  that  prosperity  during  their  journey  and 
a  safe  return  will  be  vouchsafed  to  them. 
When  the  Russians  are  in  great  trouble  they 
go  to  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral,  and  when  they 
desire  "  business  prosperity  "  to  accompany 
them,  they  go  to  the  Kazan  Cathedral.  If  in 
sickness  they  go  to  the  Preobrajenski  Church  ; 
if  to  be  married,  to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
and  buy  a  candle  and  place  it  on  the  altar  and 
make  an  offering.  All  these  add  largely  to 


io6     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  coffers  of  the  church  finances.  In  the 
church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  with  the 
highest  spires  in  Russia,  three  hundred 
and  seventy-one  feet  high,  all  the  Em- 
perors have  been  buried  since  the  foun- 
dation of  St.  Petersburg.  Alexander  II.  and 
his  wife  are  buried  here  and  a  great  num- 
ber gather  about  his  sarcophagus,  which  is 
covered  continually  with  wreaths  of  flowers 
brought  from  different  parts  of  the  empire. 
Near  him  is  that  of  his  wife  with  a  beautiful 
memorial  in  marble  in  a  reclining  posture 
with  an  angel  over  her  weeping.  We  bought 
a  copy  of  a  memorial  printed  in  Russian,  with 
fine  portraits  of  both. 

We  notice  about  the  Russian  churches  a 
large  number  of  beggars  with  their  plates  in 
their  hands,  holding  them  out  to  receive  bene- 
factions. A  beggar  with  them  is  still  re- 
garded as  almost  a  holy  person,  and  they  are 
voluminous  in  their  pious  vows  and  benedic- 
tions for  a  person  who  gives  them  anything. 

"  The  Foundling  Hospital  "  is  the  most  in- 
teresting institution,  founded  by  Catherine 
II.  We  were  first  shown  by  the  good  matron 
to  the  window  on  the  street  where  each  in- 
fant is  received  into  the  hospital,  and  it  is  not 
necessarily  known  who  brought  it  or  where  it 


To  the    Volga.  107 

came  from.  A  register  was  shown  us  where 
these  questions  only  are  asked:  "Has  the 
child  been  baptized?  What  name?"  The 
child  then  has  a  number  placed  against  the 
name,  which  is  worn  around  its  neck  and  on 
its  bed,  when  a  receipt  is  handed  to  the  bearer 
of  .he  child,  and  the  mother  can  visit  it  if  she 
chooses,  or  claim  it  after  ten  years.  We 
visited  the  different  wards,  one  room  where 
twenty-five  had  been  brought  in  that  morn- 
ing, and  were  being  bathed  and  dressed,  and 
wet-nurses  (the  latter  all  dressed  in  check 
dresses  and  white  bodices  and  bare  arms)  as- 
signed to  them.  Most  of  these  nurses  were 
young  peasant  girls,  who  probably  had 
children  in  the  institution  unknown  to  the 
manager.  Many  of  them  had  two  children 
nursing  at  the  same  time.  We  were  shown 
into  fifteen  or  twenty  different  departments, 
and  everything  was  clean  and  neat,  and  every 
exertion  possible  made  to  preserve  life.  In 
one  room  a  large  number  were  prematurely 
born,  and  the  manager  informed  us  that  they 
nearly  all  die.  The  warm  bathing-rooms,  and 
the  dressing  of  the  little  things  in  white  linen 
swaddling  clothes  on  down  pillows,  was  as 
delicately  and  tenderly  performed  as  if  they 
were  the  children  of  the  rich.  In  most  of  the 


io8     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

rooms  as  we  entered  all  the  nurses  would 
stand  up  with  the  babes  in  their  arms.  One 
room  was  shown  us  containing  a  dozen  or 
more  dead  ones  being  prepared  for  burial, 
another  room  where  baths  and  other  appli- 
ances were  used  to  fan  the  flame  of 
life  apparently  almost  extinct.  It  is  said  the 
number  is  increasing  rapidly,  and  about  ten 
thousand  are  admitted  annually,  and  about 
fifty  per  cent,  die  before  they  reach  the  age  of 
one  year,  as  after  remaining  for  four  weeks, 
and  having  been  vaccinated,  they  are  sent 
to  the  villages  where  the  nurses  formerly 
lived.  Only  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
those  brought  to  the  institution  arrive  at  ma- 
turity. The  nurses  get  about  one  dollar  a 
month  for  nursing  and  caring  for  them. 
About  thirty  thousand  in  all  have  been  cared 
for  in  the  adjacent  villages,  factories,  etc. 

The  official  who  showed  us  through  the 
building  was  exceedingly  polite  and  atten- 
tive, and  had  upon  his  breast  a  number  of 
gold  medals  received  for  bravery  in  numerous 
battles  in  which  he  had  participated,  and  at 
our  request  he  gave  us  the  names  of  the  bat- 
tles, but  I  do  not  remember.  Some  of  them 
were  in  the  Crimean  war,  and  he  was  on  the 
retired  list,  serving  the  government  in  this 


To  the   Volga.  109 

way.  A  marble  statue  of  Betski,  the  pro- 
jector, an  eminent  philanthropist,  and  a  por- 
trait of  Catherine  II.  adorn  the  walls  of  the 
entrance  hall. 

When  Russia  undertakes  any  enterprise 
like  this,  or,  indeed,  anything  else,  she  seems 
to  have  "Excelsior"  for  her  motto.  Some 
argue  that  such  institutions  increase  illegiti- 
macy, and  that  there  are  a  larger  number  of 
illegitimate  births  in  Russia  than  France. 
No  doubt  there  is  some  other  reason  for  this 
than  the  humane  care  for  the  unfortunate 
babies.  Our  ladies  called  my  attention  to  the 
care  given  to  a  large  number  prematurely 
brought  into  the  world,  and  discussed  the 
humanity  of  trying  to  save  those  who,  to 
them,  seemed  never  could  become  strong 
and  of  good  constitutions,  even  if  kept  alive. 
In  a  double  box,  about  two  feet  long,  stuffed 
and  cushioned  with  down,  were  two  little  red 
faces,  about  the  size  of  the  palm  of  the  hand, 
peeping  through  the  soft  downy  caps,  all 
shriveled  and  drawn  up.  You  could  only 
see  the  faces.  Outside  the  box,  and  between 
the  bodies,  was  warm  water,  creating  a  warm 
vaporous  atmosphere,  and  if  anything  would 
keep  the  little  waifs  alive  this  care  and  kind 
attention  would  put  life  into  them. 


no     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

At  night  we  witnessed  a  scene  quite  in 
contrast.  We  visited  one  of  the  great  pub- 
lic gardens,  some  distance  from  the  center  of 
the  city,  called  the  Zoological  Gardens, 
lighted  with  electric  light,  where  are  a  large 
number  of  wild  animals  of  all  descriptions, 
and  beautiful  grounds  with  shady  trees  and 
flower-beds,  and  various  performances,  oper- 
atic, where  was  some  splendid  Russian 
singing,  a  band  of  music  and  gymnastic  ex- 
ercises, comic  singing,  and  everything  to 
amuse  the  masses. 

We  had  quite  an  experience  with  our  dros- 
ky  drivers  in  getting  to  the  garden.  A  drosky 
is  a  small,  low,  four-wheeled  vehicle,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  place  my  arms  around  my 
wife  to  keep  her  from  falling  out,  the  seat  was 
so  narrow.  Five  or  six  droskies  started  off 
from  our  hotel  together,  "  Jehu  "  like,  but 
soon  they  got  into  a  race  in  spite  of  all  we 
could  do.  On  they  went,  passing  every  one 
on  the  way  at  a  breakneck  speed,  which  would 
have  amused  our  American  friends.  All  we 
had  do  was  to  hold  our  breath  and  hold  on  to 
our  seat.  Our  driver  came  out  ahead  and  as 
the  others  came  following  on  they  did  not 
care  to  have  another  drosky  race.  We  had  a 
wild  babel  scene  at  the  entrance  gate,  for  we 


To  the   Volga.  in 

had  made  a  contract  with  our  drivers  to  take 
us  to  the  garden  for  a  certain  sum,  and  when 
we  came  to  pay  them  they  demanded  more, 
I  suppose  on  account  of  the  race.  We  could 
not  understand  a  word  of  the  Russian  lan- 
guage, and  they  could  not  understand  us,  and 
they  swung  their  whips  and  gesticulated  until 
the  police  came,  and  we  were  glad  to  get  off 
by  paying  what  they  demanded.  The  har- 
nesses have  a  curious  appendage  ;  over  the 
shoulders  of  the  horse  is  a  kind  of  inverted 
wooden  ox-bow  three  or  four  feet  high.  Some 
are  painted  green  and  some  fancy  figures  of 
saints.  I  cannot  understand  the  object  and 
it  seems  as  if  it  was  merely  an  old  custom 
which  they  cling  to.  One  of  our  gentlemen 
thought  it  was  artistic,  but  to  me  they  seem  a 
heavy,  unnecessary  appendage  which  adds  to 
the  burden  of  the  horse.  There  is  not  more 
than  one-quarter  of  the  leather  in  their  har- 
nesses as  with  us,  and  they  are  light  and 
graceful. 

The  drosky  drivers  in  the  hottest  days  are 
all  dressed  in  a  long  plaited  woolen  frock 
reaching  to  the  feet,  with  a  band  around  the 
waist  and  a  regulation  cap,  which  gives  them 
the  appearance  of  a  priest  in  his  long  gar- 
ments. It  seems  as  if  they  must  be  heavy, 


ii2     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sim 

cumbersome  and  uncomfortable,  and  why 
they  should  be  required  to  dress  thus  I  could 
not  understand.  In  wet  and  muddy  weather 
the  garments,  all  filth,  draggle  around  their 
feet. 

"  The  city  of  Palaces."  I  asked  our  intelli- 
gent guide.  "  How  many  different  palaces 
has  the  Czar?"  He  replied,  "Fifteen  or 
twenty,"  and  some  of  them,  like  the  winter 
palace,  the  largest  and  most  magnificent 
in  the  world,  with  its  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  magnificently  furnished  rooms, 
the  winter  residence  of  the  Emperor.  We 
are  told  that  since  the  assassination  of 
the  late  Emperor  no  one  but  the  family  are 
allowed  to  visit  the  winter  palace.  After  con- 
siderable trouble  and  efforts  of  our  guide, 
who  said  our  being  Americans  helped  him  in 
getting  permission  from  the  commissioners, 
we  gained  admission.  He  said  Americans 
were  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  government. 

We  were  delighted  with  the  prospect  and 
gave  one  day  to  the  winter  palace  and  hermi- 
tage. We  were  surprised  at  its  immense  size 
as  we  approached  it  from  the  Neva.  It  is 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  by 
three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  breadth  and 
eighty  feet  high.  We  pass  through  room 


To  the    Volga.  113 

after  room  and  various  halls,  covered  mostly 
with  battle  scenes  and  portraits  of  Emperors 
and  Queens  and  distinguished  persons. 

We  have  visited  most  of  the  palaces  in  Eu- 
rope and  have  never  seen  anything  to  com- 
pare with  the  drawing-rooms  of  the  Empress, 
with  the  gold-covered  walls  and  ceilings,  and 
when  illuminited  at  evening  receptions  must 
present  an  enchanting  scene.  We  were  not 
allowed  to  see  the  crown  jewels,  as  three  days 
before  they  had  been  sealed  up  according  to 
custom  after  a  coronation,  and  would  not  be 
opened  for  three  years.  We  passed  through 
the  Emperor's  (Alexander  II.)  dining-room, 
which  was  blown  up  just  as  he  was  about  en- 
tering in  1881,  killing  eighteen  soldiers.  In 
one  minute  more  he  would  have  been  blown 
to  atoms.  The  steps  under  which  the  fuse 
was  placed  were  lifted  from  their  places  and 
blown  to  pieces,  and  the  rooms  in  the  vicinity 
more  or  less  shattered.  All  the  gold  and  pre- 
cious stones  of  the  Ural  mountains  could  not 
insure  his  life,  and  he  was  at  last  assassinated. 

The  rooms  and  bed  where  the  late  Empress 
died,  and  was  kept  alive  for  six  months  by 
artificial  means  after  life  seemed  extinct ;  an 
ox  was  killed  every  day  and  the  warm  blood 
put  into  her  bath-tub  and  she  was  kept  alive 


ii4     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

by  bathing  in  it.  These  rooms  are  to  be 
closed  and  not  opened  to  the  public  for  a 
generation.  The  present  Empress'  rooms 
were  splendid.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Denmark  and  sister  of  the  Princess  of 
Wales  of  England,  and  is  said  to  be  the  most 
intelligent  and  best  posted  Queen  in  the 
world  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  government  ; 
but  how  unhappy  and  anxious  she  must  be 
amid  all  the  glittering  jewels  and  silver  and 
golden  wardrobe  and  richest  lace  around  her 
bed.  We  then  come  to  the  room  where 
Emperor  Nicholas  died  in  1855,  on  a  plain 
iron  bedstead,  and  cheaply  furnished  apart- 
ments. The  room,  with  his  cloak  and  gar- 
ments, just  as  he  left  it,  with  all  the  appurten- 
ances, report  of  the  quartermaster,  etc.,  just 
as  it  was  when  he  heard  of  the  defeat  of  his 
army  in  the  Crimea.  He  was  so  overwhelmed 
with  disappointment  that  he  died  suddenly  on 
receiving  the  news. 

On  every  article  in  the  room  is  a  pocket 
handkerchief.  One  of  his  peculiarities  was 
an  extravagant  use  of  pocket  handkerchiefs, 
and  he  had  one  on  everything  in  the  room 
where  it  could  be  within  his  reach. 

We  visited  the  Hermitage  gallery  of  pain- 
tings adjoining  the  palace,  founded  by  Cath- 


To  the   Volga,  115 

arine  II.,  who  gave  its  name  "  Hermitage." 
It  forms  a  parallelogram  five  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  by  about  four  hundred,  and  for  its 
splendid  architectural  proportions  and  costly 
marbles  is  the  finest  gallery  in  the  world, 
and  contains  about  two  thousand  paintings. 
Among  some  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
masters  are  sixty  of  Rubens,  including  por- 
traits of  his  first  and  second  wives,  and 
many  others  of  great  value  ;  twenty  by  Mur- 
illo,  including  "  The  Assumption  ;  "  many  of 
Raphael's,  VanDyck's,  Tenier's,  Paul  Potter's 
and  Titian's.  The  Hermitage  has  more 
paintings  by  Rembrandt  than  all  of  Holland, 
where  he  lived.  One  can  never  tire  of  look- 
ing at  these  wonderful  works  of  art  by  the 
best  artists  of  Holland,  Germany,  Italy. 
France,  England  and  Russia,  which  we  found 
here. 

The  numismatic  collection,  commenced  by 
Catherine  II.,  is  perhaps  the  largest  in  the 
world,  with  its  eight  thousand  specimens  of 
Russian  coins,  some  dating  from  the  tenth 
century.  There  are  over  two  hundred  thous- 
and specimens  in  these  rooms,  and  we  were 
more  interested  with  the  one  thousand  speci- 
mens or  more  of  Etheldred  II.,  Canute  and 
other  early  kings  of  England,  which  have  been 


n6     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

found  in  Russia,  where  they  must  have  been 
circulated  in  payment  for  the  celebrated  furs 
of  Russia.  The  collection  of  gems  and  preci- 
ous stones  is  almost  without  number,  and  one 
gets  confused  with  the  immense  number  and 
value  of  these  specimens  of  vases,  mosaic 
tables,  etc. 

Peter  the  Great's  room  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive,  containing  a  large  number  of  the 
various  specimens  of  his  mechanical  genius, 
where  we  see  his  engravings,  turning  and  car- 
penter work,  as  he  not  only  ruled  a  great  em- 
pire, but  worked  as  a  mechanic,  and  the  tele- 
scope and  mathematical  instruments  which 
he  used  are  seen,  and  a  wooden  rod  is  shown 
us  of  his  height,  which  measured  seven  feet,  a 
large  number  of  portraits  in  oil  and  statuary 
and  an  effigy  in  the  peculiar  odd  dress  of  the 
time  in  which  he  lived,  embroidered  for  him 
by  Catherine  I.  for  her  coronation.  We  see 
everywhere  something  to  remind  us  of  Peter 
the  Great. 

All  Russia  seems  but  one  vast  monument 
of  his  genius.  "  He  gave  her  six  new  pro- 
vinces, a  footing  upon  two  seas,  a  regular 
army  trained  on  the  Europeon  system,  a  large 
fleet,  an  admiralty,  and  a  naval  academy,  edu- 
cational establishments,  and  this  splendid 


To  the    Volga.  117 

gallery  of  painting  and  sculpture  and  library. 
Nothing  seemed  to  escape  his  notice.  He 
had  the  Russian  letters  altered  to  make  them 
adapted  to  printing,  and  changed  the  dress  of 
his  subjects  to  be  more  in  conformity  with 
the  rest  of  Europe,"  and  all  this  was  accom- 
plished in  a  lifetime  of  only  a  half  century,  as 
he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  His  son, 
Alexis,  no  doubt  came  to  his  sudden  death 
through  the  instrumentality  of  his  father,  and 
he  no  doubt  had  many  intrigues  with  ladies 
of  his  court,  showing  traces  that  "  the  hero 
was  mixed  with  much  clay."  Forcing  his 
wife,  Eudoxia,  to  take  the  veil  and  transferred 
his  affections  to  others,  and  finally  married 
Catherine,  the  daughter  of  a  peasant  and  wife 
of  a  Swedish  corporal,  whose  family  had  been 
taken  prisoners.  She  was  said  to  be  an  ami- 
able but  illiterate  woman,  who  could  neither 
read  or  write.  She  succeeded  Peter  the 
Great,  receiving  the  homage  of  her  courtiers 
in  the  room  in  the  winter  palace  (where  we 
are)  while  the  body  of  Peter  was  lying  in 
state.  The  Russians  never  weary  of  showing 
you  something  about  him  at  nearly  every 
place  we  visited.  At  Peterhof  is  a  low  Dutch 
looking  summer  house  where  he  lived,  and 
where  Empress  Elizabeth  used  to  cook  her 


n8     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

own  dinners  in  the  great  fire-place.  His  vari- 
ous rooms  with  paintings  which  he  purchased 
while  traveling  in  Holland  ;  his  bed,  night- 
cap, dressing-gown  and  slippers,  etc.  They 
tell  an  incident  that  occurred  while  he  was 
on  a  visit  to  London.  While  going  to  West- 
minster hall  he  noticed  a  large  number  of 
men  with  wigs  and  gowns  on.  Peter  asked 
who  those  people  might  be  ?  and  when  in- 
formed by  those  accompanying  him  that  they 
were  lawyers.  "  Lawyers  !"  he  said.  "  Why  I 
have  but  two  in  all  my  dominions  and  I  be- 
lieve I  shall  have  one  of  them  hung  when  I 
get  home." 


To  the    Volga.  ,    119 


IX. 


THE    MINING    SCHOOL.       MUSEUMS    AND     ACADE- 
MIES.      PETERHOF.       DANGERS    FROM   NIHILISM. 

WE  visited  the  celebrated  mining  school, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the 
world.  The  superintendent  gave  each  one  of 
us  a  lighted  taper,  and  we  w  2nt  under  ground, 
and  apparently  through  mountains,  in  various 
directions,  for  a  long  distance,  and  the 
different  geological  positions  of  the  minerals 
as  they  are  found  in  the  Ural  mountains,  with 
layers  and  color  of  the  different  minerals  of 
coal,  platina,  iron,  copper,  silver,  gold  and 
precious  stones,  sapphires,  emerald,  amethyst, 
agate,  rhodorite,  the  rock  crystal,  jasper, 
chrysoberyl,  and  black  tourmaline  and  dia- 
monds. All  was  explained  to  us,  and  I  could 
well  understand  how  a  student  would  have  a 
complete  knowledge  of  mining  with  such 
practical  illustrations  and  applications.  There 
are  about  three  hundred  pupils,  and  miners 
are  represented  in  miniature,  going  through 
the  operations  of  mining,  and  we  could 


120     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

hardly  realize  that  we  were  not  examining 
genuine  mines.  There  are  here,  perhaps,  the 
best  collection  of  minerals  in  the  world.  A 
solid  piece  of  real  gold,  from  Siberia,  worth 
fifty  millions  of  rubles,  an  immense  number 
of  pearls,  some  as  large  as  a  walnut,  the 
largest  in  the  world.  The  mineral  wealth  of 
Russia  is  immense.  The  specimens  of  beryls, 
tourmalines,  topazes,  and  other  precious 
stones  from  Siberia  are  astonishing.  Some  of 
the  beryls  were  a  foot  in  length,  large  tour- 
quois,  and  the  largest  black  diamond  in  the 
world,  a  solid  mass  of  malachite,  weighing 
thirty  cwt.  One  becomes  confused  at  the 
splendid  display  of  minerals  and  precious 
stones. 

There  seems  to  be  no  end  to  academies  of 
sciences  and  museums  in  St.  Petersburg.  In 
the  Zoological  Museum  the  great  mastodon 
and  rhinoceros,  the  largest,  I  am  told,  in  the 
world,  found  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Lena, 
in  Siberia,  by  a  peasant.  These  had  been  pre- 
served (we  are  told)  one  hundred  thousand 
years,  or  countless  ages,  in  the  ice  of  Siberian 
rivers,  and  the  flesh  so  preserved  that,  when 
discovered,  wolves  and  bears  came  down  to 
feed  upon  them.  This  frame,  as  it  was  put  to- 
gether, looked  to  us,  as  near  as  we  could 


To  the    Volga. 


measure  it,  thirteen  to  fifteen  feet  long,  and 
two  feet  higher  than  a  large  elephant  in  the 
vicinity.  Its  tusks  were  eight  to  ten  feet  long. 

After  examining  numerous  museums,  gal- 
leries of  paintings,  palaces,  etc.,  our  guide  re- 
marked, "all  these  belong  to  the  Emperor. 
He  has  the  key  to  the  government  treasury. 
The  people  have  nothing  !  " 

Our  visit  to  Peterhof,  the  present  residence 
of  Alexander  III.,  was  intensely  interesting, 
as  the  Emperor  and  his  family  were  here. 
We  were  fortunate  in  having  a  most  delight- 
ful day.  We  took  the  steamer  down  the 
Neva,  and  across  the  gulf  of  Finland,  about 
twenty  miles.  We  could  see  Cronstadt  in 
the  distance,  and  the  beautiful  palaces  of 
Peterhof  peeping  through  the  green  forests. 
On  board  our  steamer  were  a  number  of 
officers  of  the  Russian  army  and  their  famil- 
ies, dressed  as  they  all  seemed  to  be  every- 
where, with  heavy  cadet  mixed  overcoats, 
reaching  to  their  feet.  No  matter  how  warm 
it  is  (this  was  a  warm  August  day)  they  wear 
their  heavy  overcoats.  While  we  were  talk- 
ing with  our  guide,  who  was  a  Russian,  I 
noticed  a  number  of  police  in  uniform  stand- 
ing around  us,  and  slyly  creeping  up  behind 
us,  evidently  to  hear  what  we  were  talking 


122     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

about,  and  soon  two  ladies,  who  could  talk 
English,  came  near  to  us,  and  remained  until 
we  changed  our  location,  and  then,  as  if  by 
chance,  appeared  near  us  again,  and  were 
about  when  we  were  on  deck,  or  in  the  cabin, 
both  going  and  returning.  We  were  convers- 
ing with  our  guide  about  the  Czar,  mention- 
ing his  name  frequently,  and  asking  questions 
about  the  family,  and  the  guide  was  pointing 
out  to  me  the  villa  where  he  resided,  etc. 
The  guide  suddenly  whispered  to  me  that  we 
must  cease  talking  about  the  Emperor,  as 
the  police  heard  us  mentioning  the  name  of 
Alexander  III.  frequently,  and  they  were 
gathering  around  us  to  learn  what  we  were 
saying  ;  and  the  two  ladies  were  private  de- 
tectives, who  accompany  every  steamer  and 
watch  every  stranger  to  see  if  they  can  dis- 
cover if  any  one  has  designs  on  the  Emperor. 
Ever  since  the  coronation  unusual  precaution 
is  used.  We  did  not  feel  very  comfortable  in 
a  strange  country,  and  only  Mrs.  S.  and  my- 
self, to  have  so  many  of  the  police  and  de- 
tectives about  us.  Everybody  seems  to  look 
at  each  other  in  Russia  ominously,  and  ask 
"  What  is  going  to  happen  next  ?  "  The 
coronation  is  over.  Much  excitement  fol- 
lowed the  publication  of  the  rescript  of  the 


To  the    Volga.  123 

Czar.  All  seemed  to  think  in  Russia  that 
after  the  coronation  every  kind  of  business 
would  revive ;  all  who  were  poor  would  be 
rich  ;  all  who  were  in  prison  would  be  free  ; 
all  the  exiles  in  Siberia  would  be  liberated  ; 
all  foreigners  were  to  become  naturalized,  or 
leave  the  country,  and  refused  a  passport  to 
remain.  The  Nihilists  expected  a  constitu- 
tion. It  has  now  been  three  months  since  the 
coronation  and  nothing  is  done.  The  Em- 
peror announces  that  nothing  will  be  done. 
Business  in  St.  Petersburg  is  unsettled,  and 
the  government  is  using  every  effort  to  pre- 
vent another  assassination.  When  we  arrived 
at  the  wharf  at  Peterhof,  a  number  of  splen- 
did equipages  were  in  waiting  for  the  officers 
of  the  army.  One  general  entered  a  small 
open  Victoria  phaeton,  drawn  by  four  splen- 
did horses  abreast,  and  a  number  of  others 
followed. 

Our  approach  to  the  grounds  was  enchant- 
ing. The  palaces  were  plain  style  of  archi- 
tecture, built  by  Peter  the  Great  in  1720,  on 
rising  ground  about  sixty  or  seventy  feet.  As 
we  approach  them  we  look  through  the  long 
arches  of  trees  and  in  the  distance  see  fountains 
playing  in  every  direction,  until  we  reach  the 
fountain  called  the  Samson,  tearing  open  the 


124     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

jaws  of  a  lion,  out  of  which  the  water  rushes. 
In  front  of  the  palace  is  a  waterfall  probably 
one  hundred  feet  high,  falling  over  wide  steps, 
behind  which  are  colored  lamps,  placed  be- 
hind the  water  for  an  illumination.  Over  one 
hundred  jets  of  water  were  playing  eighty  to 
one  hundred  feet  high,  and  one  foot  in 
diameter.  From  the  top  of  the  steps  we 
have  a  view  to  the  sea,  five  hundred  yards, 
through  the  forests  where  a  river  runs,  and 
the  gardens  laid  out  in  terraces  and  flowers, 
fountains  and  waterfalls  ;  the  Lion  Fountain, 
the  Neptunes,  storks,  nymphs,  dolphins,  rocks 
and  grottoes ;  with  the  water  thrown  in 
every  direction — all  seems  like  fairyland. 
We  think  the  magnificence  and  artistic  ar- 
rangement superior  to  those  at  Versailles,  or 
any  in  the  world,  and  we  were  fortunate  in 
visiting  here  on  a  day  when  they  were  all 
playing.  It  was  a  gala  day,  and  great  crowds 
of  the  elite  of  St.  Petersburg  were  here  with 
their  splendid  equipages.  Not  less  than  one 
hundred  carriages  were  in  a  row,  while 
their  occupants  were  promenading  up  and 
down  the  beautiful  grounds.  On  each  side 
were  bands  of  music — one  would  play  and 
then  the  other,  and  in  the  distance  others 
could  be  heard.  The  dresses  of  the  ladies 


To  the    Volga.  125 

were  equal  to  any  \ve  ever  saw  in  Paris,  rich, 
but  in  good  taste.  The  ladies  were  large 
and  fair-looking,  with  a  German  look.  When 
I  learned  afterward  that  nearly  one-half  of 
the  population  of  St.  Petersburg  were  Ger- 
mans, accounted  for  the  appearance  of  the 
ladies.  We  visited  the  palaces  and  villas, 
which  are  scattered  through  the  grounds, 
adorned  with  lakes  and  flower  gardens,  and 
the  chalets  belonging  to  the  royal  family. 
One  especially,  belonging  to  the  late  Empe- 
ror Nicholas'  wife,  finished  in  blue  with 
mosaic  floors  and  tables,  captivated  my  wife. 

The  most  attractive  paintings  in  the  palace 
were,  I  should  think,  nine  hundred  or  one 
thousand  portraits  of  beautiful  Russian  girls 
from  the  different  provinces  of  Russia  in  the 
peculiar  costumes  of  their  country,  in  differ- 
ent positions,  with  all  the  colors  of  their 
wardrobes,  writh  a  different  expression  and 
position  to  each  one,  one  leaning  over  a  chair 
as  if  listening  to  a  lover,  etc. 

After  spending  the  day  here  we  could  not 
but  cast  a  glance  and  a  thought  at  the  poor 
Emperor  and  his  family  in  their  Alexandrian 
villa,  with  a  high  wall  around  the  premises, 
and  numerous  soldiers  guarding  the  walls  and 
entrance  and  not  allowing  any  one,  not  even 


126     From  ike  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  servants,  to  go  in  or  out  without  a  pass, 
and  when  he  comes  from  or  goes  to  the  city, 
his  steamer  lands  far  away  from  the  other 
landings,  near  his  villa.  We  met  a  black 
steamer  bearing  dispatches  to  him  from  the 
Premier  de  Girs,  who  informs  him  what  is 
going  on  in  his  own  dominions  and  in  the 
world,  twice  a  day.  This  was  a  grand  day 
for  us,  and  we  came  away  with  the  impres- 
sion that  Peterhof  was  more  beautiful  than 
Hampton  Court,  Versailles,  Schonbrunn  in 
Vienna,  or  Potsdam  in  Berlin.  On  our  return 
to  the  steamer  we  found  the  same  lady  detec- 
tives and  police,  but  Mrs.  S.  did  not  enjoy 
being  under  police  surveillance  in  Russia. 

While  we  were  there  we  understood  that 
Nihilist  papers  were  being  distributed  in  the 
Emperor's  palace  among  his  own  household. 
One  day  the  Empress  opened  the  door  sud- 
denly into  the  chamberlain's  room,  and  she 
observed  that  he  hid  a  paper  away  in  his  side 
pocket.  She  had  him  examined,  and  the 
paper  proved  to  be  a  Nihilist  paper,  and  with- 
out any  trial  he  was  summarily  sent  to  Siberia. 
There  are  a  great  many  arrests  made  every 
few  days,  but  it  seems  to  be  the  policy  of  the 
government  to  keep  it  from  the  people,  and 
the  papers  say  that  all  is  peace  and  harmony. 


To  the    Volga.  127 


X. 


MOSCOW.  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  RURIKS.  THE 
TOWN  OF  IVAN.  THE  GREAT  BELL.  THE 
PEASANTRY  AND  THEIR  CHARACTER. 

OUR  ride  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow 
by  rail  was  an  interesting  one,  over  a 
splendid  road,  with  compartment  cars,  which 
are  arranged  for  very  comfortable  sleeping 
cars.  All  the  appurtenances  of  the  road  are 
first-class  ;  the  road  is  straight  and  solid,  and 
the  depots  are  large,  built  of  stone,  and  of  at- 
tractive style  of  architecture.  At  the  end  of 
the  depot  is  a  bell  over  which  is  a  roof  covered 
with  woodbine,  which  hangs  gracefully  down 
to  the  ground.  There  are  three  bells  of  warn- 
ing sounded  before  the  cars  start,  followed  by 
blowing  of  the  engine  whistle.  It  is  stated 
that  when  the  engineer  o.f  the  road  presented 
his  profile  and  plans  to  build  the  road,  show- 
ing how  each  large  city  could  be  reached,  the 
Emperor  was  dissatisfied,  and  took  out  his 
rule  and  drew  a  straight  line  from  St.  Peters- 
burg to  Moscow,  and  said,  "  Build  the  road 


128     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

straight,  without  regard  to  cities  or  obsta- 
cles." It  was  done,  and  branch  roads  had  to 
be  constructed  to  accommodiite  the  cities, 
but  he  had  an  opportunity  to  show  his  auto- 
cratic power. 

Our  first  view  of  "  Matushka  Moskva," 
Mother  Moskva,  as  the  peasants  delight  to 
call  the  capital  of  the  Ruriks,  was  early  one 
beautiful  morning,  from  our  car  of  observa- 
tion from  St.  Petersburg,  just  as  the  bright 
sun  shone  out  upon  the  eight  hundred 
churches  ;  many  of  them,  with  their  towers 
and  turrets  covered  with  gold,  gave  a  most 
thrilling  feeling  as  we  for  the  first  time  looked 
upon  the  city  writh  so  many  historical  associa- 
tions. There  is  a  great  contrast  between  this 
city  and  St.  Petersburg — the  latter  with  its 
wide,  straight  streets,  and  splendid  modern 
architectural  buildings,  all  of  stone  or  brick, 
covered  with  stucco  of  a  yellowish  tint,  the 
surface  of  the  country  flat  and  uninteresting, 
looks  like  a  modern  city  like  Chicago  ;  while 
Moscow  is  on  hills,  with  sudden  ascents  and 
descents,  with  winding  streets,  and  many  of 
the  houses  are  frame,  and  the  roofs  are 
painted  green,  and  it  looks  like  an  oriental 
city.  The  most  prominent  thing  is  its  antique 
churches  of  the  showy,  gaudy  Byzantine 


To  the    Volga.  129 

architecture,  with  five  towers  or  spires.  All 
of  the  Greek  churches  formerly  had  seven 
towers,  but  Peter  the  Great  issued  the 
"  ukase  "  that  the  churches  should  have  only 
five.  Moscow  is  Russian,  and  you  see  that  it 
is  Asiatic,  while  St.  Petersburg  is  European. 
On  the  streets  we  at  once  noticed  the  bright 
red  dresses  and  scarlet  handkerchiefs  of  the 
women,  pinned  coquettishly  on  the  head,  and 
the  red  cotton  shirts  or  smock  frocks,  fastened 
around  the  waist  by  a  girdle,  of  the  working 
men.  We  begin  to  realize  that  we  are  in  an 
ancient  city,  built  first  in  the  twelfth  century, 
and  several  times  destroyed  by  fire — the  last 
time  at  the  entrance  of  Napoleon  in  1812 — 
and  for  many  years  the  capital  of  Russia. 
It  is  a  prosperous  and  growing  city  of  about 
seven  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
when  you  ask,  \vhat  are  your  business  pros- 
pects? the  answer  is  quite  in  contrast  with 
the  reply  in  St.  Petersburg  :  "  All  our 
numerous  manufactories,  about  six  hundred 
in  all,  employing  fifty  thousand  men,  are  in 
operation,  and  there  is  a  good  demand  for  all 
our  products.  This  is  the  great  center  of  the 
Russian  railway  sysceui,  and  we  expect  to  be 
a  larger  city  than  our  rival  on  the  Neva. 
Why  should  we  not,  with  our  central  location 


130     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

and  Russia's  one  hundred  million  population, 
and  increasing  ? "  We  certainly  have  not  seen 
more  activity  in  the  streets  of  any  city  that 
we  have  visited.  The  Kremlin  has  been  the 
great  palladium  of  Russia,  and  is  regarded 
with  superstitious  veneration.  We  first  take 
a  carriage  to  ride  about  the  city,  and  get  the 
best  view  of  the  Kremlin,  which  is  a  triangu- 
lar inclosure  of  about  two  miles,  situated  on 
the  Moskva  River,  and  a  ride  along  the  river 
under  the  Kremlin  gives  one  an  idea  of  the 
oriental  and  picturesque  hill,  surrounded 
with  high,  strong  walls,  with  its  thirty-two 
churches,  and  the  only  part  of  Moscow  which 
was  saved  from  the  terrible  conflagration  in 
1812.  We  enter  the  Kremlin  first  through 
the  Redeemer's  gate  (there  are  five  gates  in 
all  built  in  the  fifteenth  century).  As  we 
passed  through  the  gate  we  noticed  a  number 
of  women  on  each  side  bowing  to  the  ground 
and  crossing  themselves,  looking  directly 
toward  us,  and  we  took  off  our  hats  and 
bowed  to  them,  when  we  were  informed  that 
we  were  not  the  object  of  their  attention,  but 
the  picture  of  the  Redeemer  of  Smolensk, 
held  in  high  veneration.  We  were  unfor- 
tunate in  having  a  drunken  driver  who  could 
hardly  sit  upon  the  seat  ;  but  he  did  not 


To  the    Volga.  131 

forget  to  bow  and  cross  himself  several 
times,  and  remind  us  that  we  were  passing 
through  the  holy  gate,  and  that  we  must  take 
off  our  hats,  as  the  Emperor  and  every  one 
else  was  expected  to  do.  We  desired  to  con- 
form to  the  old  custom  and  tradition,  and  un- 
covered our  heads. 

We  first  prepare  to  ascend  the  great  "  tower 
of  Ivan  the  Great,"  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  erected  in  1600.  We  stop  to 
look  at  the  largest  bell  in  the  world,  called 
"  Tzar  Kolokol,"  king  of  bells,  which  lies  at 
the  foot  of  the  tower  on  a  pedestal,  and 
weighs  four  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
pounds,  is  twenty-six  feet  high,  and  sixty- 
eight  feet  in  circumference.  The  tower  is 
five  stories  high,  and  we  counted  in  it  thirty- 
four  bells,  the  largest,  with  the  name  of  the 
"Assumption"  on  it,  weighing  sixty-four 
tons.  On  the  top  of  the  tower  we  get  a 
splendid  view  of  Moscow,  and  it  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  and  unique  cities 
in  the  world.  The  Kremlin  is  below  us,  the 
Moskva  winding  its  way  through  the  city, 
with  the  numerous  boats  upon  it,  and  a  great 
number  of  women  in  their  bright  dresses 
washing  in  the  river.  The  splendid  churches, 
with  their  gold  and  silver  domes  glittering  in 


132     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  sunshine,  the  roofs  of  the  houses  all 
painted  green,  and  the  distant  hills  from 
which  Napoleon  first  looked  upon  the  city  in 
flames,  after  his  long  march  in  mid-winter, 
all  come  rushing  into  one's  mind  with  the 
historical  incidents  connected  with  the  terri- 
ble march.  There  is  a  chapel  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  tower,  which  was  especially  inter- 
esting to  the  young  ladies,  and  is  called  St. 
Nicholas,  where  the  young  ladies  of  Moscow 
all  go  who  are  about  to  marry,  as  St.  Nicholas 
is  their  patron  saint.  Near  by  is  the  cathedral 
of  the  Assumption, with  its  five  domes, which  is 
more  of  Saxon  and  Norman  style  of  architec- 
ture than  Italian,  and  was  consecrated  in 
1479.  This  cathedral  is  especially  interesting 
•as  being  the  church  where  all  the  Emperors 
are  crowned,  and  where  the  present  Czar  was 
crowned  last  May  (twenty-seven  old  style,  or 
fifteen  new  style),  or  rather  crowned  himself, 
as  he  places  the  crown  upon  his  head  with 
his  own  hands.  The  platform  was  carpeted 
where  he  stood,  and  the  pictures  of  one 
thousand  saints  on  the  walls  covered  with 
gold,  all  of  which  had  been  burnished  up  for 
the  coronation. 

Among  the  very  old  and  valuable  paintings 
is  one   which   they   say  was  painted  by  St., 


NORTH  RUSSIANS. 


To  the    Volga.  133 


Luke,  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  A  small  case  is 
opened,  and  we  are  shown  a  nail  of  the  Cross 
of  Christ  and  a  piece  of  his  robe  and  various 
other  old  relics  of  the  Apostles,  which  they 
seem  to  believe  are  genuine,  but  this  does  not 
prevent  us  doubting  it.  These  cathedrals  con. 
tain  so  many  articles  and  rich  vases  studded 
with  diamonds  and  precious  stones,  as  if  the 
rich  mineral  resources  of  Russia  had  been  ex- 
hausted to  adorn  the  churches.  Near  this 
cathedral  is  that  of  St.  Michael's,  where  all 
the  Russian  Czars  were  buried  until  the  time 
of  Peter  the  Great.  It  is  similar  in  architec- 
tural appearance  to  the  former  and  was  built 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  was  the  place 
where  Napoleon  stabled  his  horses  in  1812. 
The  tomb  of  the  greatest  interest  is  that  of 
Ivan,  "The  Terrible,"  who  forms  the  subject 
of  so  many  Russian  poems.  Special  funeral 
services  are  held  here  twice  a  year,  with  great 
pomp,  where  the  souls  of  all  those  who  are 
buried  here  are  prayed  for  by  the  church. 
The  priest  allowed  the  gentlemen  of  the  party 
(no  ladies  were  allowed  inside  the  "  Ikonos- 
tas")  to  examine  the  gorgeous  vestments 
and  costly  treasures  which  had  been  presented 
to  the  church  to  pay  for  prayers  being 
offered  up  for  the  souls  of  departed  friends, 


134     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

A  cross  which  belonged  to  Ivan,  "The  Terri- 
ble," had  immense  pearls  in  it,  and  an  eme- 
rald one-third  to  one-half  an  inch  in  diame- 
ter. We  were  interested  most  in  a  splendid 
illuminated  version  of  the  Gospels  with  the 
date  1125 — the  earliest  copy  in  Russia;  the 
cover  was  enameled  and  full  of  the  most  rare 
and  costly  precious  stones.  Another  church 
near  there  is  that  of  the  Annunciation,  where 
all  the  Czars  are  baptized  and  married.  Here 
also  are  shown  a  great  many  relics,  one  an 
image  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  made  of  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  pounds  of  silver  and  twenty 
pounds  of  gold,  brought  from  Constantinople 
five  hundred  years  ago,  and  was  often  carried 
in  the  early  battles  of  Russia,  and  was  con- 
sidered to  have  miraculous  power.  There  are 
a  great  many  curious  frescoes  here,  and  the 
floor  of  the  church  is  paved  with  agate  and 
jasper.  These  three  cathedrals  adjoining 
each  other  are  historic  on  account  of  that  of 
the  Assumption  being  where  the  Czars  are 
crowned,  St.  Michael's  where  they  are  buried, 
and  the  Annunciation  where  they  are  bap- 
tized and  married.  The  place  is  also  shown 
where  the  false  Demetrius  fell  while  leaping 
from  one  of  the  windows  behind  the  palace. 
Near  the  entrance  to  the  Kremlin  by  the 


To  the    Volga.  135 

Spankoi  gate  is  one  of  the  most  curious  fan- 
tastic churches  in  the  world,  which  is  called 
St.  Basil,  and  was  built  in  1554,  by  Ivan, 
"  The  Terrible."  It  has  fifteen  towers  and 
the  same  number  of  chapels  inside,  and  is 
painted  outside  with  a  variety  of  bright  colors, 
green  predominating,  and  the  architect,  so  it 
is  stated,  had  his  eyes  put  out  by  Ivan  so  that 
he  could  not  build  another  church  like  it. 
Napoleon  ordered  it  destroyed,  but  it  was 

• 

saved.  We  never  shall  forget  that  on  the  day 
we  visited  it  some  fifty  or  seventy-five  bright 
boys  came  in  and  most  devoutly  were  offering 
their  devotions  in  a  solemn  and  graceful  man- 
ner. As  they  enter  the  chapel  they  drop  on 
to  one  knee,  bowing  the  head  to  the  pave- 
ment, crossing  the  breast  frequently  with  the 
thumb  and  two  fore-fingers  of  the  right  hand  ; 
as  they  return  they  kneel  and  cross  them- 
selves. The  boys  were  so  bright  and  all 
dressed  in  linen  suits,  with  white  caps  and 
closely  cut  hair,  that  I  asked  our  guide  who 
they  were.  The  superintendent,  who  was 
with  them,  informed  me  that  they  were  from 
the  deaf  and  dumb  school.  I  was  glad  to 
meet  him,  and  we  conversed  awhile  as  best 
we  could  through  an  interpreter,  and  he  gave 
me  a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  the  school  at 


136     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

three  o'clock  p.  m.  All  the  scholars  in  schools 
for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  Russia  are  taught 
to  speak,  and  no  instruction  is  given  by  signs 
whatever.  There  are  similar  schools  in  St. 
Petersburg  and  in  Warsaw,  which  we  visited. 
They  claim  that  every  deaf  mute  can  be 
taught  to  talk,  and  all  the  instruction  is  given 
orally. 

The  new  cathedral,  called  St.  Saviour,  is 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  in  Moscow,  and 
was  dedicated  just  after  the  coronation  in 
May  last,  and  was  commenced  by  Alexander 
I.  forty-two  years  ago,  in  commemoration1  of 
Russia's  delivery  from  the  French.  It  is  of 
stone  and  Byzantine  style  of  architecture. 
The  architect  was  sick  at  the  time  it  was  to 
be  dedicated,  and  he  asked  to  be  taken  to 
it  so  that  he  could  survey  his  splendid  archi- 
tectural production,  and  died  a  day  or  two 
afterward,  before  it  was  dedicated.  There 
are  about  six  thousand  paintings,  of  various 
historical  and  allegorical  scenes  and  saints, 
and  cost  fifteen  millions  of  rubles  or  about 
six  million  dollars.  When  illuminated,  as  it 
was  at  the  dedication,  twelve  thousand 
candles  were  lighted,  so  arranged  about  the 
inside  as  to  present  a  most  brilliant  effect. 
A  grand  cathedral  is  to  be  erected  by  order 


To  the    Volga.  137 

of  the  Czar  in  every  city  in  the  empire  in 
commemoration  of  the  assassination  of  Alex- 
ander II.  The  poor  peasants  are  just  able  to 
keep  soul  and  body  together,  and  the  cattle 
plague  is  taking  off  thousands  of  their  cattle, 
yet  these  costly  cathedrals  are  built  by  order 
of  the  Czar,  who  holds  the  key  to  the  trea- 
sury of  the  empire. 

There  are  said  to  be  four  thousand  bells  in 
the  city,  and  when  they  are  all  sounded,  as  on 
Easter  morning,  the  effect  is  enchanting,  as 
the  great  bell  of  the  cathedral,  which  takes  a 
dozen  men  to  toll  it  and  is  said  to  sound  like 
the  rolling  of  distant  thunder. 

Some  one,  in  his  travels,  describes  the  ring- 
ing of  all  the  bells  in  Moscow  on  Easter  eve  : 
"  At  midnight  the  great  bell  of  the  cathedral 
tolled.  Its  vibrations  seemed  to  be  the  roll- 
ing of  distant  thunder,  and  they  were  in- 
stantly accompanied  by  the  noise  of  all  the 
small  bells  in  Moscow.  Every  inhabitant  was 
stirring,  and  the  rattling  of  carriages  in  the 
street  was  greater  than  at  noon-day.  The 
whole  city  was  in  a  blaze,  lights  were  seen  in 
all  the  windows,  and  innumerable  torches  in 
the  streets.  The  tower  of  the  cathedral  was 
illuminated  from  its  foundation  to  its  cross. 
The  same  ceremony  takes  place  in  all  the 


138     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

churches,  and  what  is  truly  surprising,  con- 
sidering their  number,  they  are  all  equally 
crowded.  We  hastened  to  the  cathedral,  it 
was  filled  with  a  prodigious  assembly,  con- 
sisting of  all  ranks  of  both  sexes,  bearing 
lighted  wax  tapers,  to  be  afterward  heaped 
as  vows  upon  the  different  shrines.  The 
walls  of  the  ceilings,  and  every  part  of  the 
building,  are  covered  with  the  pictures  of 
saints  and  martyrs.  In  the  moment  of  our 
arrival,  the  doors  were  shut,  and  on  the  out- 
side appeared  Plato,  the  archbishop,  preceeded 
by  banners  and  torches,  and  followed  by  all 
his  train  of  priests,  with  crucifixes  and  cen- 
sors, who  were  making  '  three  times,  in  pro- 
cession, the  tour  of  the  cathedral,  chanting 
with  loud  voices  and  glittering  in  sumptuous 
vestments  bespangled  with  gold,  silver  and 
precious  stones.  The  snow  has  not  melted 
so  rapidly  in  the  cathedral  within  the  Krem- 
lin as  in  the  streets  of  the  city.  This  mag- 
nificent procession  was  constrained,  there- 
fore, to  move  upon  planks  over  the  deep  mud 
which  surrounded  the  cathedral.  After  com- 
pleting the  third  circuit,  they  all  halted  op- 
posite the  great  doors,  which  were  all  closed. 
The  archbishop,  with  a  censor,  then  scattered 
incense  against  the  doors  and  over  the  priests. 


To  the   Volga.  139 


Suddenly,  these  doors  were  opened,  and  the 
effect  was  magnificent  beyond  description. 
The  immense  throng  of  spectators  within, 
bearing  innumerable  tapers,  formed  two  lines, 
through  which  the  archbishop  entered,  ad- 
vancing with  his  train  to  a  throne  near  the 
center.  The  profusion  of  lights,  in  all  parts 
of  the  cathedral,  and  among  others  of  the 
enormous  chandeliers  in  the  center,  the  rich- 
ness of  the  dresses,  and  the  vastness  of  the 
assembly,  filled  us  with  astonishment." 


140     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


XI. 


THE  PALACE,  WITH  ITS  TREASURES.       THE  LOASE 
MARKET.       THE    FOUNDLING    HOSPITAL. 

OUR  visit  to  the  palace  was  an  interesting 
one,  as  we  pass  through  the  different  halls, 
especially  the  Hall  of  St.  George,  founded  by 
Catherine  II.,  and  dedicated  to  the  order  of 
St.  George.  The  coat  of  arms  of  Russia  is  an 
effigy  of  St.  George  on  a  white  horse.  All 
these  great  halls  are  full  of  interesting  his- 
torical relics  and  paintings.  The  crowns 
worn  by  the  Emperors  and  Empresses  are  nu- 
merous and  costly-,  especially  the  one  made 
by  order  of  Peter  the  Great  for  Catherine  I., 
with  its  two  thousand  five  hundred  diamonds, 
besides  other  precious  jewels.  Among  the 
valuable  paintings  is  one  of  immense  size,  of 
Alexander  I.,  entering  Paris  with  his  army,  in 
1813.  "Near  this  is  a  fine  marble  statue  of 
Napoleon,  which  causes  to  rush  through  the 
mind  the  wonderful  events  connected  with 
the  latter's  march  to  Moscow,  in  1812,  and  the 
almost  entire  destruction  of  his  army  of  fifty 


A  HALT  OX  THE  HIGHWAY. 


To  the   Volga.  141 

thousand,  and  the  next  year  the  march  of  the 
Russians  triumphantly  into  Paris.  Among 
the  old  carriages,  which  are  heavy,  and  quaint 
enough,  is  one  presented  by  Queen  Elizabeth, 
in  1580,  to  Czar  Boris  Godunof,  whom  she 
wanted  to  marry.  We  were  shown  the  coro- 
nation chairs  and  robes,  and  canopy,  (the  lat- 
ter made  of  real  gold  cloth),  of  the  present 
Emperor  and  Empress,  and  many  others. 
Our  guide  informs  us  that  at  the  coronation 
there  were  over  a  million  of  people  present, 
and  the  utmost  good  order  prevailed,  and 
that  it  is  said  to  have  cost  the  government  at 
least  twenty  million  dollars. 

On  account  of  the  failure  of  the  crops  and 
the  cattle  disease  in  Russia,  a  great  many 
peasants  flock  to  Moscow,  and  we  visited  the 
Tolkatschta,  or  Loase  market,  so  called  from 
the  great  number  of  poor,  dirty  people,  who 
gather  in  a  large  square,  where  old  clothes, 
old  shoes,  and  the  poorest  of  cast-off  gar- 
ments, furniture,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  are 
sold,  and  where  a  dinner  of  dirty  soup  is  fur- 
nished for  two  cents.  We  were  told  to  divest 
ourselves  of  our  watches,  and  everything  of 
value,  for  a  more  God-forsaken  crowd  could 
not  be  found.  We  were  glad  to  escape  with 
our  thumb  and  finger  upon  our  nose,  and 


142     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

brush  and  shake  ourselves  well.  It  has  be- 
come such  a  nuisance  that  the  papers  of  Mos- 
cow are  calling  the  attention  of  the  city 
authorities  to  the  effect  it  is  having  upon  the 
sanitary  condition  of  the  city.  Our  guide 
was  an  intelligent  Russian,  who  'had  lived  in 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  was  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  He  showed  me  his  passport,  which  has 
to  be  renewed  every  year,  but  the  government 
has  become  so  alarmed  that  they  are  about 
to  qompel  all  residents  to  become  citizens  of 
Russia  or  leave  the  country.  The  censorship 
of  the  press  is  very  severe.  All  foreign  papers 
are  closely  examined,  and  if  any  article  ap- 
pears reflecting  upon  Russia,  the  papers  are 
suppressed,  or  a  block  of  ink  is  stamped  upon 
the  offensive  sentence.  In  one  of  the  papers 
which  I  got,  a  part  of  an  article  on  Russia 
was  stamped  in  black,  obliterating  every  letter. 
The  inconvenience  of  having  a  press  cen- 
sorship is  illustrated  by  some  recent  incidents 
in  Russia.  A  newspaper,  published  in  the 
Caucasus,  has  been  compelled  to  suspend,  be- 
cause its  particular  censor  chose  to  move  to 
a  distant  town,  and  to  insist  that  proof  sheets 
be  sent  him  daily  for  his  inspection,  a  con- 
dition incompatible  with  the  prompt  publica- 
tion of  the  paper.  One  of  these  lord  censors. 


To  the   Volga.  143 

in  St.  Petersburg  compelled  a  compiler  of  a 
small  book  on  French  literature  to  correct  the 
clause, "  La  majeste  de  ma  nature"  on  the  ground 
that  the  word  majesty  should  only  be  applied 
to  the  Czar. 

Russia  has  two  great  foundling  hospitals, 
one  at  St.  Petersburg  and  one  in  Moscow, 
probably  the  largest  and  most  complete  in 
the  world.  This  hospital  admits  yearly  about 
fifteen  thousand  children,  and  they  are  not 
left,  as  in  the  hospital  which  we  visited  in  St. 
Petersburg,  at  the  door,  or  handed  to  the 
nurse  through  the  window,  but  taken  to  a 
room  set  apart  for  that  purpose.  No  ques- 
tions are  asked  but  "  Has  the  child  been  bap- 
tized ?  "  and  if  so,  "  By  what  name  ? "  The 
child  is  then  registered  in  the  books  of  the  in- 
stitution, a  number  is  assigned  to  it,  which  is 
worn  around  its  neck,  and  figures  on  its  cot, 
while  a  receipt,  showing  the  same  number,  is 
given  to  the  bearer  of  the  child,  in  order  to 
enable  her  to  visit,  or  even  to  claim  it,  at  any 
future  period,  up  to  the  age  of  ten  years. 
The  child  is  then  handed  to  its  future  foster 
parent,  who  happens  to  be  first  on  the  list 
among  the  uumber  who  are  waiting  in  at- 
tendance. These  women  often  deposit  their 
own  children  at  the  hospital  a  few  hours 


144     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

previous.  They  get  about  ten  or  twelve  cents 
a  day  as  nurses.  After  remaining  in  the  in- 
stitution four  weeks,  and  having  been  vac- 
cinated, they  are  sent  with  their  nurses  to  the 
villages,  where  the  latter  belong.  About 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  children  die  in  one  year, 
owing  to  the  severe  climate  and  owing  to  the 
universal  custom  among  the  Russian  peas- 
antry of  leaving  young  infants  alone,  for  sev- 
eral hours  at  a  time,  with  the  "  soska,"  or  kind 
of  milk  poultice  at  their  mouths,  to  munch, 
which  often  chokes  them.  Russia  is  not  be- 
hind any  other  nation  in  the  world  in  her  hos- 
pitals. The  Grand  Duchess  of  Russia,  widow 
of  George  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  maintains 
a  dozen  large  hospitals  in  various  towns,  and 
is  engaged  in  many  public  benevolent  insti- 
tutions, and  has  lately  established  a  new  pri- 
vate eating-house  for  students  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. She  is  the  wealthiest  woman  in  the 
world,  and  inherited  her  wealth  from  Cather- 
ine II. 


To  the   Volga.  145 


XII. 

THE  PETROFSKI  PALACE  AT  MOSCOW.  THE 
JOURNEY  TO  N1JNI-NOVGOROD.  THE  PANO- 
RAMA OF  THE  OKA  AND  THE  VOLGA.  A 
GALA  DAY. 

WE  rode  out  to  a  Russian  encampment, 
near  the  Petrofski  palace  and  park  built 
by  Catherine  II.  Napoleon  retired  to  this  place 
after  the  Kremlin  became  untenable.  There 
were  said  to  be  sixty  thousand  soldiers  in 
camp.  When  the  officer  of  the  day  learned 
that  we  were  Americans,  he  was  exceedingly 
attentive  to  us,  and  took  us  through  the 
encampment  to  the  officers'  quarters,  kitchen, 
and  to  witness  the  drill.  The  soldiers  were 
stout  and  robust,  but  did  not  look  intelligent, 
and  the  animal  seemed  to  preponderate. 
They  receive  only  two  copecks,  or  one  cent  a 
day  for  their  services.  Every  able-bodied 
man  in  Russia,  who  has  attained  his  twenty- 
first  year,  is  obliged  to  serve  in  the  army,  and 
no  substitutes  are  allowed.  The  regular 
period  of  service  is  fifteen  years,  six  of  which 


146     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

are  spent  in  active  service,  and  nine  in  the 
reserve.  Russia  has  more  than  a  million  of 
men  under  arms. 

Our  journey  from  Moscow  to  Nijni-Nov- 
gorod,  an  ancient  city  founded  in  1222,  was 
interesting  as  giving  us  an  opportunity  to 
see  the  peasants  and  their  villages,  and  this 
Asiatic  town,  with  its  motley  crowd  of  Per- 
sians, Armenians,  Tartars  and  Caucasians. 
We  first  take  a  carriage  and  drive  about  the 
city,  and  on  our  way  across  the  bridge  over 
the  Volga  we  meet  a  large  number  of  Asiatics, 
some  on  foot  and  some  in  vehicles,  with  their 
goods  and  camping  stuff.  A  steamer  has  just 
arrived  on  the  Volga  from  the  Caspian  Sea, 
and  one  thousand  five  hundred  miles  via 
Orenburg,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Ural 
Mountains  and  Central  Asia.  We  get  a 
splendid  view  of  the  city  from  Muzavief's 
tower,  and  a  grand  panorama  of  the  Volga 
and  Oka  Rivers,  with  the  forests  of  masts 
down  the  river  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 
The  city  is  below  us  on  both  sides  of  the 
Volga,  and  although  it  has  but  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants  at  this  time,  when  the  great 
annual  fair  is  in  operation  it  appears  much 
larger,  as  the  great  number  of  shops  and 
bazars  extend  over  considerable  space  be- 


To  the    Volga.  147 

t\veen  the  Volga  and  Oka  Rivers.  A  short 
distance  from  the  tower  is  "  Othos,"  a  terrace 
built  by  Emperor  Nicholas,  where  there  is  a 
beautiful  park,  with  flowers  and  seats,  from 
which  we  get  a  distant  view  of  the  cultivated 
fields  over  which  the  Volga  overflows  in  the 
spring,  making  the  plains  rich  with  fertile 
deposits.  The  Volga  is  covered  with  steamers 
and  barges,  and  we  are  interested  in  the  large 
number  of  Tartars,  as  they  are  engaged  in 
unloading  the  products  of  different  kinds  for 
the  fair.  A  large  monument  was  erected  here 
by  the  Emperor,  dedicated  to  a  patriotic 
butcher,  "  Minin,"  who  raised  money  to  equip 
an  army  to  drive  away  the  Tartars  who  held 
possession  of  the  city.  We  return  to  the  fair, 
which  was  said  to  have  been  held  here  as  long 
ago  as  the  fourteenth  century,  and  is  visited 
sometimes  by  two  hundred  thousand  to  three 
hundred  thousand  persons,  mostly  Asiatics, 
and  from  eighty  million  to  one  hundred  million 
dollars  changes  hands  during  the  six  weeks  or 
two  months  the  fair  lasts.  The  ancient  form 
of  trade  is  still  kept  up,  but  will  be  super- 
seded by  railroads  and  the  establishment  of 
banks,  etc.  Dealers  are  obliged  to  offer  their 
goods  here  at  regular  times  of  holding  the 
fair.  The  iron  and  other  metals  stored  in 


148     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

the  miles  of  buildings  have  been  brought 
here  from  the  Ural  Mountains  and  Siberia,  at 
a  great  cost,  for  sale  and  distribution,  within 
a  few  miles  of  their  place  of  production. 
Dealers  are  obliged  to  buy  large  stocks,  and 
get  a  credit  of  one  or  two  years.  This  adds 
largely  to  the  price,  and  in  these  times  of 
small  margins  and  great  competition  the 
more  modern  way  of  short  time  or  cash  sales 
must  be  resorted  to,  and  the  fair  will  be  done 
away  with,  or  change  its  peculiarity.  Rail- 
roads already  extend  to  the  Ural  Mountains. 
We  were  interested  in  examining  the  bazar, 
which  contains  such  a  variety  of  stones  and 
minerals  from  Siberia,  and  silver  made  into 
different  fancy  articles  from  the  Caucasian 
Mountains.  Turks  were  here  with  their 
goods,  and  Tartars,  and  everything  had  an 
oriental  appearance — silks  and  rugs  from 
Persia.  The  articles  made  from  malacite  and 
lapis-lazuli,  and  other  stones  from  Siberia, 
were  numerous  and  beautiful,  and  a  day 
spent  in  this  bazar  was  full  of  intense  interest, 
on  account  of  the  novel  people  and  their  pro- 
ductions, which  one  continually  meets.  The 
tea  that  one  gets  here  is  said  to  be  superior, 
on  account  of  its  coming  from  China  over- 
land, for  it  is  claimed  that  all  Lea,  notwith- 


To  the    Volga.  149 

standing  all  precaution,  is  deteriorated  by 
crossing  the  ocean.  The  tea  is  all  served 
with  lemon,  in  glass  tumblers  ;  a  silver  spoon 
is  always  in  the  glass,  which  is  said  to  prevent 
the  hot  tea  breaking  the  tumbler. 

It  was  a  gala  day  at  Nijni-Novgorod  to- 
day, as  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  brother  of  the 
Emperor,  had  a  grand  reception  here,  and 
the  flags  were  flying,  and  everything  pre- 
sented a  gay  appearance.  He  was  here  with 
his  son  and  other  officers  of  the  army,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Governor  and  chief  of 
police.  Five  or  six  carriages  in  all  would 
drive  rapidly  through  the  streets,  and  visit 
some  of  the  large  bazars  of  the  fair,  and 
away  the  masses  would  rush  to  get  sight  of 
him,  and  all  day  long  the  people  were  run- 
ning after  him,  whichever  way  he  would  go. 
After  dining  with  the  Governor  (whose  house 
is  in  the  center  of  the  fair,  and  the  lower  part 
occupied  by  a  bazar  for  the  sale  of  curious 
articles  from  Bokhara  and  other  parts  of  Cen- 
tral Asia),  he  had  a  reception  on  the  streets 
by  two  companies  of  Cossacks  in  their  pecu- 
liar uniform,  with  spears  or  harpoons.  The 
Cossacks  may  be  very  brave  and  dangerous, 
but  they  did  not  present  a  very  attractive 
military  appearance. 


150     From  the  I.anJ  of  the  Mul night  Sun 

Before  leaving  on  the  train  I  took  a  stroll 
down  by  the  wharves,  which  are  ten  or  twelve 
miles  long,  and  all  along  I  stop  to  look  at  the 
Tartars  unloading  and  loading  the  curious- 
looking  craft  with  grain,  hides,  wooden  boxes, 
wine,  skins  from  the  Caucasus,  madder  and 
cotton  from  Bokhara,  and  almost  every  de- 
scription of  merchandise  peculiar  to  the  East, 
and  loading  European  goods.  It  was  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  all  were  leaving 
their  work  to  go  to  their  suppers,  and  as  they 
passed  me,  men  and  women,  I  never  saw  a 
more  dirty,  savage-looking  set,  and,  being 
alone,  I  did  not  feel  safe,  and  hurried  to  the 
station,  meeting  our  guide  looking  for  me, 
who  had  become  alarmed  at  my  absence,  and 
some  of  the  party  did  not  quiet  the  ladies  by 
their  stories  of  people  who  had  been  knocked 
down  and  stripped  by  the  Tartars  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city  only  a  day  or  two  before. 

A  great  many  gypsies  who  wander  over  the 
Eastern  world  were  at  the  fair,  and  the  sing- 
ing of  some  of  the  young  women  in  the  res- 
taurants was  entertaining,  and  showed  con- 
siderable harmony  and  good  voices.  The  out- 
skirts of  the  fair  are  more  interesting  than  the 
center  for  observation  and  study.  The  con- 
stant succession  of  carts  in  long  strings,  the 


To  the    Volga.  151 

crowds  of  laborers,  the  knots  of  earnest-look- 
ing traders  with  long  beards,  the  itinerant 
venders  of  liquid  refreshments  and  white 
rabbit  skins,  the  greasy,  slovenly-looking 
monks  collecting  the  copecks  of  those  who 
fear  to  withhold  their  charity  lest  their  trans- 
actions be  influenced  by  the  evil  one,  the  fre- 
quent beggars,  pleading  for  the  most  part 
that  they  have  been  burned  out  and  showing 
the  most  dreadful-looking  sores  as  evidence 
of  their  veracity — all  these  men  and  things 
attest  the  present  importance  of  the  fair  of 
Nijni.  The  sales  and  purchases  represent  six- 
teen million  sterling,  which  pass  through  the 
hands  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to 
two  hundred  thousand  traders.  The  bakers 
are  bound  to  make  daily  returns  of  the 
quantity  of  bread  which  they  sell,  and  it 
is  in  this  manner  that  a  rough  estimate  of 
the  daily  population  is  made.  Great  quan- 
tities of  dried  fish  are  sold  at  Nijni.  The 
annual  value  of  the  sturgeon  alone  taken 
in  the  Volga  is  estimated  at  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  rubles.  Fairs  were  held 
here  as  early  as  1366,  and  tradition  points  to 
a  still  earlier  origin.  Great  caravans  are 
started  from  China,  overland,  which  are  six 
months  to  a  year  reaching  Nijni-Novgorod. 


152     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


XIII. 

RETURN    TO    MOSCOW.       THE    HUTS    AND    VIL- 
LAGES.      PEASANT    LIFE. 

TT  7"E  noticed  on  our  return  to  Moscow  the 
\\  Russian  villages  with  their  huts  made 
of  logs  and  thatched  roofs,  out  on  the  hot  plains 
without  a  tree  to  shelter  the  people  from  the 
burning  sun.  Not  a  farm  house  is  to  be  seen 
anywhere,  but  all  huddled  together  —  men, 
women,  children,  dogs,  pigs  and  cattle.  You 
cannot  tell  the  huts  of  the  human  from  the 
beast's.  The  peasants  wear  sheepskin  clothes 
and  shoes  made  of  some  kind  of  bark,  and  the 
women  red  cotton  frocks,  with  scarlet  or  some 
bright  colored  handkerchief  on  their  heads 
when  they  are  in  church,  and  look  gay  enough. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  much  encourage- 
ment for  a  peasant  to  be  industrious  and  try 
to  get  ahead  in  the  world,  as  the  land  belongs 
to  the  whole  village  and  is  all  cultivated 
together  on  the  communal  system,  and  the 
village  is  responsible  for  the  entire  sum, 
which  the  communt  has  to  pay  annually  into 


To  the    Volga.  153 

the  imperial  treasury.  Each  of  these  com- 
munes keeps  a  list  of  the  male  peasants  for 
the  purpose  of  direct  taxation.  The  govern- 
ment pays  no  attention  to  the  number  of  per- 
sons who  may  be  born  between  the  times  of 
the  various  revisions  till  the  new  revision 
takes  place.  (Gogol,  in  his  "  Dead  Souls," 
uses  this  fact  as  the  groundwork  of  his  work.) 
Every  peasant  who  pays  these  taxes  is  sup- 
posed to  have  a  share  of  the  communal  land, 
and  the  amount  of  tax  imposed  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  quality  or  quantity  of  the 
land,  but  is  entirely  personal.  The  commune 
has  to  pay  into  the  imperial  treasury  a  fixed 
yearly  sum,  according  to  the  number  of  its 
revision  souls,  and  distributes  the  land  among 
its  members  as  it  thinks  fit.  The  revision  of 
the  land  takes  place  about  every  fifteen  years, 
and  the  land  is  then  distributed  according  to 
the  number  of  persons  which  the  family  con- 
tains. This  would  naturally  occur  after  each 
census.  But  the  various  changes  brought 
about  in  each  commune  by  the  deaths,  the 
births,  and  the  migrations,  compel  the  vil- 
lages to  make  the  redistribution  more  fre- 
quently. In  some  districts  they  divide  their 
lands  yearly,  while  others  do  not  do  so  till 
the  lapse  of  two  or  more  years.  The  richest 


154     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

and  best  cultivated  communes  make  redis- 
tribution of  their  lands  less  frequently  than 
poorer  ones.  When  the  territory  is  vast,  as 
in  the  northern  provinces,  the  land  is  com- 
mon to  many  villages  and  constitutes  a  "  ro- 
lost."  Thus  in  the  district  of  Olonetz,  about 
six  hundred  villages  are  grouped  in  thirty 
communes.  It  is  singular  that  even  the  Ger- 
man colonists  on  the  banks  of  the  Volga, 
although  they  received  their  lands  in  sever- 
ally, have  united  them  under  the  communal 
system.  There  may  arise  a  difficulty,  because 
the  active  members  of  the  various  families 
would  not  be  the  same,  and  accordingly  in 
some  communes  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
distribute  the  land  according  to  the  working 
powers  of  the  families  ;  but  the  allotment  de- 
pends upon  the  will  of  the  particular  com- 
mune. The  authority  of  the  particular  com- 
munal parliament  is  final  and  supreme.  No 
peasant  challenges  it,  and  the  government 
never  interferes.  The  village  parliament  is 
presided  over  by  the  village  elder,  whose 
house  is  marked  out  conspicuously  among 
the  others,  and  who  wears  as  a  badge  of  office 
a  small  medal  suspended  from  the  neck  by  a 
thin  brass  chain.  The  decisions  of  the  com- 
munal parliament  are  generally  made  by 


To  the    Volga.  155 

acclamation,  but  whenever  an  ambiguity 
arises,  it  is  settled  in  the  Western  fashion — by 
a  division.  The  attempt  to  introduce  voting 
by  ballot  into  these  assemblies  by  the  govern- 
ment, about  fifty  years  ago,  resulted  in  a 
failure.  The  cottages  (izba)  of  Russian 
peasants  are  built  of  wood,  the  beams  being 
laid  crosswise  and  the  roof  jutting  out  far  be- 
yond the  bases.  The  furniture  is  of  a  scanty 
description,  and  in  addition  to  the  chairs  and 
tables  there  is  a  large  "  peck  "  or  stove,  upon 
which  the  family  sleep,  and  the  sacred  "  ikon  " 
in  the  corner  of  the  room,  with  a  lamp  burn- 
ing before  it,  and  every  one  who  enters  is  ex- 
pected to  cross  himself  and  bow  before  it  ;  if 
this  is  not  done  it  is  considered  a  great  mark 
of  disrespect.  The  distribution  of  the  meadow 
land  takes  place  annually.  The  division  of 
this  and  the  arable  land  is  performed  by  the 
peasants  themselves,  who  invariably  effect  it 
with  great  accuracy.  The  minor  rules  with 
regard  to  the  time  and  manner  of  cultivation 
of  the  land  are  all  made  subservient  to  the 
general  advantage  of  the  commune.  For 
some  of  the  above  facts  I  am  indebted  to  Mr. 
Mackenzie  Wallace's  work.  It  does  not  seem 
as  if  there  would  be  any  change  from  the 
communal  system,  as  the  law,  since  the  serfs 


156     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

were  emancipated,  allows  the  commune  to  be 
broken  up  into  severally,  but  very  few  vil- 
lages avail  themselves  of  this  permission. 
The  system  seems  well  adapted  to  the  nature 
and  habits  of  the  Russian  peasants,  who  are 
extremely  ignorant,  drunken  and  filthy,  and 
only  one  in  ten  can  read  and  write. 

The  condition  of  the  Russian  peasant  dur- 
ing the  days  of  serfdom  must  have  been  a 
terrible  one,  judging  from  some  accounts  we 
get  from  various  sources — not  unlike  the  con- 
dition of  slaves  in  this  country.  We  are  told 
of  one  lady  who  had  been  a  great  beauty  in 
her  day,  and  being  unwilling  that  the  world 
should  become  too  much  informed  about  the 
decay  of  her  charms,  constituted  one  of  her 
serfs  her  perruquier  (wig  maker),  and  the  un- 
happy man  was  kept  in  captivity,  never  being 
allowed  to  quit  a  certain  room.  He,  how- 
ever, at  length  succeeded  in  making  his  es- 
cape, and  the  whole  story  became  known. 
We  read  of  women  murdering  their  serfs,  and 
one  that  was  sentenced  by  the  Empress 
Catherine  to  spend  her  life  in  a  dungeon  for 
her  cruelties.  Details  are  given  of  the  terri- 
ble cruelties  practiced  by  the  nobles  upon  the 
serfs. 

Serfdom  was  established  in  Russia  by  Boris 


RUSSIAN  PEASANT. 


To  the    Volga.  157 

Godunof,  who  issued  a  decree  about  the  year 
1600,  forbidding  peasants  to  leave  the  lands 
on  which  that  date  should  find  them.  Earlier 
traces  of  it  are  found  in  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  during  the  Tartar  domin- 
ion. The  inhabitants  of  towns  and  villages 
were  then  forbidden  to  leave  them  without 
permission  ;  but  the  full  and  final  attachment 
of  the  soil  was  not  consummated  until  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Turgenief 
had  a  horror  of  serfdom,  and  left  Russia  to 
study  in  Germany.  He  writes:  "That  life, 
that  society,  that  sphere — if  such  an  expres- 
sion may  be  used — to  which  I  belonged,  the 
sphere  of  serf-holding  landowners,  contained 
nothing  to  hold  me  to  my  country.  On  the 
contrary,  almost  everything  that  I  saw  around 
me  aroused  within  me  a  sense  of  annoyance, 
contempt  and  dissatisfaction.  I  could  not 
breathe  the  same  air,  I  could  not  remain  in 
the  same  environment  with  that  which  I  ab- 
horred. It  was  necessary  for  me  to  withdraw 
at  a  distance  from  my  enemy,  in  order  to 
charge  the  more  forcibly  against  him  from  a 
distance.  In  my  eyes  that  enemy  had  a  de- 
fined name— it  was  the  right  of  serf-holding. 
Under  this  inscription  I  collected  and  con- 
centrated all  that  against  which  I  resolved  to 


158     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sim 

fight  to  the  last,  with  which  I  swore  never  to 
reconcile  myself.  This  was  my  '  Hannibal 
oath.'  "  Turgenief  regarded  the  serf  as  "  a 
strong  and  useful  laborer,  endowed  with  an 
instinctive  sense  of  morality,  but  being  iso- 
lated from  the  world,  and  unable  to  speak  a 
word  in  his  own  behalf."  The  classes  of  no- 
bility, on  the  other  hand,  he  considered  as 
"useless  consumers  of  the  peasant's  labor,  to 
which  they  were  entitled  by  the  chance  of 
birth  ;  as  demoralized  by  affluence  and  lazi- 
ness, as  demoralizing  all  that  came  into  con- 
tact with  them." 


To  the   Volga.  159 


XIV. 

NIHILISM   AND    ITS    POSSIBILITIES.      TURGENIEF, 
THE    NOVELIST. 


QROFESSOR  MORFILL  writes:  " 

genief,  the  greatest  of  Russian  novelists, 
in  his  powerfully  written  works,  giving  har- 
rowing descriptions  of  the  miserable  condi- 
tion of  the  Russian  serfs,  in  his  series  of 
sketches  called  '  Memoirs  of  a  Sportsman,' 
and  a  succession  of  able  works  reviewing  all 
classes  of  Russian  society,  invented  the  word 
Nihilist." 

I  have  never  read  a  more  pathetic  story 
than  "  The  Gentleman's  Retreat,"  and  as 
some  one  says,  "  there  are  touches  in  it 
worthy  of  George  Eliot."  The  great  novelist 
died  in  Paris  while  we  were  in  Russia,  a  great 
loss  to  Russia  and  to  the  world.  He  accom- 
plished for  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs 
what  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  did  for  the 
emancipation  of  five  million  slaves  in  our 
own  country,  and  in  his  "  Fathers  and  Chil- 
dren," and  "Smoke,"  Turgenief  has  grap- 


160     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


pled  with  the  nihilistic  ideas,  which  have  for 
a  long  time  been  so  current  in  Russia.  The 
spread  of  Nihilism  so  rapidly  in  Russia  was 
caused,  no  doubt,  by  the  emancipation  of 
twenty-two  million  of  the  serfs,  in  1861,  by 
Alexander  II.,  who  liberated  more  human 
beings  by  his  own  power  and  free  will  than 
any  other  person.  The  nobles  have  hated 
the  Czars  ever  since,  for  they  hired  out  a  vast 
number  of  the  serfs,  who  were  a  great  source 
of  income  to  them,  and  this  emancipation  act 
deprived  them  of  great  sources  of  revenue 
The  peasants  and  lower  class  of  people  were 
very  much  attached  to  their  great  liberator, 
and  they  never  tire  of  looking  at  his  uniform 
and  sword,  with  the  spots  of  blood  upon 
them,  which  he  wore  when  assassinated,  which 
are  exposed  in  a  glass  case  in  one  of  the 
churches  in  St.  Petersburg.  They  would  al- 
most tear  any  one  in  pieces  who  should  say 
anything  against  the  Czar.  Nihilism,  no  doubt, 
is  largely  confined  to  the  nobility,  and  to  the 
students  in  the  eight  or  ten  colleges,  who  be- 
gin to  understand  that  their  liberties  are 
taken  from  them  by  the  autocrat  of  all  the 
Russians,  and  that  Russia  is  not  advancing 
like  the  other  nations  of  the  world,  and  are 
becoming  uneasy  and  dissatisfied,  and  there- 


To  the    Vol^a.  161 

fore  the  frequent  outbreaks  among  this  class. 
In  order  to  discuss  properly  the  modern  revo- 
lutionary movement  in  Russia,  we  must  go 
back  to  Alexander  Herzen,  whom,  however, 
it  would  be  somewhat  unfair  to  class  among 
Nihilists,  as  he  was  a  man  of  much  more 
temperate  character.  Herzen  was  born  in 
Moscow,  in  1812,  the  son  of  a  Russian  noble- 
man. He  early  developed  a  taste  for  social- 
istic theories,  and  was  a  great  student  of  the 
writings  of  Hegel.  Having  inherited  a  large 
property  from  his  father,  he  resolved  to  quit 
Russia,  invested  his  money  in  foreign  securi- 
ties, and  took  up  his  permanent  residence  in 
the  west  of  Europe.  In  some  most  inter- 
esting papers,  published  in  the  Polar  Star, 
in  Russia,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Past  and 
My  Thoughts,"  he  has  given  rigorous  sketches 
of  the  strange  life  which  he  led  in  intimate 
friendship  with  the  leading  political  exiles, 
among  others  Kossuth  and  Orsini.  He 
founded  in  London  a  Russian  paper  of 
democratic  principles,  called  the  Kolokol  (77ie 
Bell}.  In  a  supplement,  entitled  "  Under 
Judgment,"  minute  details  were  given  of 
cases  of  injustice  and  oppression  on  the  part 
of  the  Government.  These  were  ordinarily 
so  accurate  that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  they 


1 62     From  tJic  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


must  have  been  communicated  by  persons  of 
high  official  position  in  Russia.  It  also  circu- 
lated, to  a  great  extent,  in  the  country,  but, 
of  course.,  secretly.  In  spite  of  its  democratic 
tone,  it  was  always  distinctly  patriotic  and 
Russian.  In  1865  Herzen  removed  to  Switzer- 
land, and  died  in  1870.  He  was  the  author 
of  a  great  many  works,  besides  conducting 
his  journal,  among  them  several  novels,  and 
any  one  reading  them  would  conclude  that 
Herzen  was  an  honest  man  and  a  true  patriot. 
Of  a  very  different  type  was  Michael  Ba- 
kounin,  who  may  be  said  in  some  sort  to  have 
been  the  founder  of  nihilism.  He  was  born 
in  1814,  of  a  wealthy  Russian  family,  and 
early  showed  signs  of  insubordination.  Thus 
having  been  gazetted  in  the  Imperial  Russian 
Guards,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  was 
forced  to  leave  the  military  service.  At  Mos- 
cow he  joined  a  club  of  intelligent  men,  who 
were  great  students  of  the  philosophy  of 
Hegel.  Among  these  were  Herzen,  Granovski, 
professor  of  history  at  the  University  of 
Moscow,  and  author  of  some  valuable  works, 
and  Belinski,  the  genial  critic,  and  other 
prominent  scholars.  In  the  year  1841  Bakou- 
nin  went  to  Berlin,  that  he  might  study  the 
doctrines  of  Hegel  more  thoroughly  ;  after- 


To  the    l\>/ga.  163 

ward  he  removed  to  Paris,  and  having  refused 
to  return  at  the  command  of  the  Russian 
Government,  was  now  an  exile.  He  after- 
ward mixed  himself  up  with  the  affairs  of  the 
revolution  at  Dresden,  was  arrested,  and 
sentenced  to  death.  This  sentence  was,  how- 
ever, commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life.  In 
1851  he  was  surrendered  to  the  Russian 
Government,  and  was  imprisoned  in  the 
fortress  of  Petropovloski  in  St.  Petersburg. 
His  punishment  was  afterward  mitigated  by 
banishment  to  Siberia  ;  he  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape  in  an  American  ship  to 
Japan,  and  arrived  in  London  in  1861.  On 
his  arrival  in  London  he  joined  Herzen,  and 
became  one  of  his  co-laborers  on  the  Kolokol, 
to  which  he  communicated  a  much  more 
rabid  tone.  In  1865  the  office  of  the  Kolokol 
was  removed  to  Geneva,  and  here  Bakounin 
plunged  into  the  wildest  socialism.  He  died 
in  1878,  having  been  unceasing  in  his  efforts 
to  propagate  nihilism.  One  of  his  agents, 
Nechaer,  had  deluged  Russia  with  political 
pamphlets  of  extreme  views.  Nechaer's  trial 
brought  to  light  the  fact  that  Bakounin  had 
filled  Russia — especially  influencing  young 
persons — with  political  papers  of  the  wildest 
and  most  rabid  kind  ;  he  praised  Karokasor, 


164     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

who  attempted  the  Czar's  life  in  1866,  but  de- 
precated further  efforts  at  assassination,  as 
the  Czar  must  be  reserved  for  the  judicial 
sentence  of  the  people  ;  the  aim  of  the  revolu- 
tion was  to  be  universal  destruction  ;  "  abso- 
lute void  must  be  created,  for  if  one  old 
social  form  were  left,  it  would  be  an  embryo 
out  of  which  all  the  other  forms  would  renew 
themselves," 


To  tJic    Volga.  165 


XV. 

THE  SOCIALISTIC  PRESS.  THE  ORGAN  OF  THE 
INSTITUTION.  TOLSTOI  AND  THE  SUPERIOR 
COUNCIL.  THE  END. 

1  THINK  there  is  now  a  Russian  socialistic 
press  in  Geneva,  which  is  very  active.  Many 
articles  appear  in  the  Little  Russian  language, 
especially  in  a  magazine  entitled  " Gromasln." 
The  Nihilists  are  extremely  active,  and  we 
can  hardly  take  up  a  daily  paper  but  we  read 
accounts  of  assassinations  and  murders.  The 
policy  of  the  government  appears  to  be  to 
suppress,  as  much  as  possible,  the  doings  of 
the  Nihilists.  Many  are  sent  off  to  Siberia, 
without  trial,  or  without  it  being  known.  It 
would  seem  that  they  are  a  misguided,  des- 
perate class  of  men,  and  that  nothing  can  be 
accomplished  by  such  unwise  measures  as  as- 
sasssination,  but  to  unsettle  the  affairs  of 
Russia  and  cause  an  immense  expense  by 
keeping  so  large  a  number  engaged  in  pro- 
tecting the  country  from  their  dastardly 
deeds.  No  person  is  allowed  to  go  in  or  out 


1 66     From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


of  Russia  without  a  passport,  and  every  news- 
paper is  examined,  and  on  every  article  that 
criticises  the  government,  or  says  anything 
about  Nihilism,  a  block  of  ink  is  stamped 
across  the  objectionable  words.  All  of  this 
espionage  must  keep  an  immense  number  of 
officials  employed,  and  it  would  seem  that 
financial  ruin  would  come  upon  the  country 
in  time,  on  account  of  the  enormous  expenses. 
During  the  last  ten  years  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  prisoners 
have  been  transported  to  Siberia,  many  of 
them  without  any  trial,  by  simple  order  or 
resolution  of  the  commune,  never  having  even 
seen  a  judge,  on  suspicion,  perhaps,  of  being 
Nihilists.  Twenty  years  ago  the  exiles 
traversed  on  foot  all  the  distance  between 
Moscow  and  the  place  to  which  they  were 
dispatched  ;  now  they  go  part  of  the  way  on 
foot,  in  wagons,  and  on  special  barges,  or 
floating  prisons,  which  are  overcrowded,  and 
are  usually  kept  in  such  filthiness  that  disease 
is  created.  Diptheria  and  typhus  fever  kill 
adults  and  children,  especially  the  latter. 
Corpses  of  children  are  thrown  out  at  nearly 
every  station.  When  the  season  and  state  of 
the  river  permits,  parties  of  five  hundred  con- 
victs, each  with  women  and  children,  leave 


To  the    Volga.  167 

the  Tomsk  prison  every  week,  and  begin 
their  foot  journey  to  Irkutsk  and  Tranchaita- 
lin.  The  suffering  is  terrible,  and  their  num- 
ber is  increasing  every  year. 

The  Czar  convened  the  Superior  Council 
on  the  loth  of  March  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering the  social  question.  They  con- 
sidered the  question  whether  there  really  ex- 
ists a  powerful  Nihilist  party,  and  if  so,  what 
their  wants,  and  how  to  satisfy  or  crush 
them,  as  the  demands  of  the  country  may  re- 
quire. The  council  was  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  ruling  classes,  including 
Count  Tolstoi,  minister  of  the  interior,  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Tchernaieff,  General  Ignatieff 
and  Miljutine,  M.  Abassa,  and  all  the  heads 
of  the  administrative  departments. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  PEASANTS  OF  RUSSIA. 

The  peasants  of  Russia  are  a  superstitious  class  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave.  Charms,  incantations  and  mystic  remedies  in  the 
case  of  disease  are  common.  A  feast  is  held  in  Russia  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  death,  but  also  on  many  other  stated  days  the  dead  and 
ancestors  of  the  village  are  commemorated.  Even  the  nobles  used 
to  have  a  noise  made  outside  the  house  to  keep  the  evil  spirits  off. 
Up  to  this  day  the  old  women  cross  themselves  in  orthodox  fashion 
on  the  railway  trains  as  soon  as  the  cars  start.  The  nobility  of 
Russia  have  been  so  brought  under  the  western  European  influ- 
ences that  one  can  not  see  in  them  the  anomalous  characteristics  of 
the  Scythians  or  Slavonians,  as  among  the  peasantry.  They  are 
a  contented,  docile,  sturdy  race,  and,  as  were  the  race  from  which 
they  descended,  are  brave,  as  has  been  proved  on  many  a  battle- 
field. Sir  Henry  Havelock  bears  testimony  to  the  virtues  and 
bravery  of  the  Russian  soldier.  No  country  can  show  greater 
heroism  than  they  exhibited  amid  the  horrors  of  Shipka  pass. 
With  all  their  heroism  they  are  servile  and  terribly  given  to 
drunkenness.  Probably  they  are  the  most  drunken  people  in  the 
world.  The  ordinary  beverage  is  a  kind  of  fermented  barley 
(kvas),  somewhat  sour,  but  by  no  means  disagreeable  to  the  palate, 
and  a  coarse  kind  of  corn  brandy  called  "  vocka." 

According  loan  old  work,  "  It  is  a  custom  over  all  Muscovie 
that  a  maid  in  time  of  wooing  sends  to  that  suitor  whom  she  choos- 
eth  for  her  husband,  such  a  whip  curiously  wrought  by  herself,  in 
token  of  her  subjection  unto  him."  Another  Russian  writer  also 
tells  us  that  it  was  usual  for  the  husband  on  the  wedding  day  to 


Ii        From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


give  his  bride  a  gentle  stroke  over  the  shoulders  with  his  whip,  to 
show  his  power  over  her.  In  some  story  it  is  related  that  a  wife 
complained  to  her  husband  that  he  did  not  love  her  ;  but  upon  his 
expressing  surprise  at  the  doubt,  she  gave  as  a  reason  that  he  had 
never  beaten  her  !  The  bridegroom  knew  nothing  of  his  bride. 
She  was  only  allowed  to  be  seen  a  few  times  before  marriage  by 
his  female  relatives,  and  on  these  occasions  all  kinds  of  tricks  were 
played.  A  stool  was  placed  under  her  feet  that  she  might  seem 
taller,  or  a  handsome  female  attendant  or  a  better  looking  sister 
were  substituted.  "Nowhere,"  says  one  writer,  "  is  there  such 
trickery  practiced  with  reference  to  brides  as  at  Moscow." 

A  Nihilist  in  Moscow  told  me  that  he  had  given  up  trying  to 
accomplish  anything  by  assassination  ;  indeed,  he  did  not  see  how 
any  change  could  be  brought  about  so  long  as  all  the  peasants  are 
contented  with  their  lot  and  never  desire  to  better  their  condition 
by  leaving  Russia  for  America  or  any  other  country.  I  do  not 
remember  ever  to  have  seen  but  one  Russian  who  had  become  an 
inhabitant  of  this  country. 

Russia  seems  to  be  taking  pride  in  her  own  language  and  litera- 
ture, and  instead  of  imitating  the  French,  they  are  developing  a 
vigorous  individuality,  and  has  a  brilliant  prospect  for  her  lan- 
guage, and  is  fast  absorbing  the  Finish  dialect,  the  Polish  and 
Lithunian. 

II. 

MARRIAGE   IN   RUSSIA. 

The  Russian  merchant,  the  citizen  of  Odessa,  retains  to  this 
day  some  of  the  ancient  customs  of  his  fore-fathers.  The  primitive 
character  of  Russian  nationality  has  to  battle  hard  against  the  in- 
fluence of  European  civilization.  Family  influence,  and  especially 
that  of  the  home  circle,  however,  still  exists  in  full  force.  Father 
and  mother  have  complete  moral  authority  over  their  children  of 
both  sexes,  no  matter  how  old  the  latter  may  be.  This  authority 
shows  itself  principally  in  the  words  and  actions  of  the  father. 
He  conducts  his  household  as  he  pleases,  and  among  the  trading 
class  it  is  very  rare  indeed  to  hear  of  a  son  or  daughter  acting  in 
opposition  to  a  father's  will.  In  general  the  father  is  feared  and 


To  the    Volga.  \\\ 


respected,  the  mother  respected  and  loved.  Nowhere  is  home  life 
— the  intimate  family  life— so  fully  developed  as  in  Russia,  and 
that  more  particularly  in  the  class  which  is  here  called  merchant 
citizen. 

The  father,  therefore,  decides  the  marriage  of  his  children,  and 
what  he  requires  before  all  else  is  that  the  future  wife  or  husband 
should  belong  to  the  orthodox  Greek  Church  and  have  a  good  rep- 
.  utation.  Young  men  may  marry  at  eighteen,  young  girls  at  six- 
teen. Whether  the  future  pair  know  each  other  or  not,  there  is 
always  .1  match-maker  engaged  to  make  the  overtures  and  to  carry 
on  the  negotiations  on  this  delicate  subject.  "Popping  the  ques- 
tion "  is  a  profession  that  requires  a  great  deal  of  art  and  intelli- 
gence in  the  person  who  exercises  it.  In  the  first  place  a  match- 
maker must  be  a  widow,  not  younger  than  thirty-five  years,  and 
not  older  than  fifty.  She  must  be  lively,  good  looking  and  full  of 
fun  and  wit.  It  is  quite  indispensable  that  she  should  have  the 
"gift  of  gab,"  that,  as  the  Russian  proverb  has  it,  she  need  not 
feel  for  her  words  in  her  pocket.  A  match-maker  ought  to  know 
everything,  without  showing  it.  Very  often  the  match-maker  is 
the  widow  of  a  priest.  After  the  death  of  her  husband,  when  she 
sets  up  in  her  profession,  she  is  sure  to  have  a  large  number  of  cus- 
tomers, both  rich  and  influential,  to  help  her  on  in  any  difficulties, 
particularly  if  her  husband,  during  his  lifetime,  had  acquired  the 
love  and  respect  of  his  parishioners  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 
St.  Petersburg,  or  any  other  large  Russian  city,  seldom  either 
hates  or  despises  the  priest.  The  "  white  "  or  secular  clergy  are, 
generally  speaking,  well  instructed  and  well  read,  and  lead  a  sober 
and  laborious  life,  devoting  their  whole  time  to  the  duties  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  church.  Constantly  under  the  veyes  of  the  Holy 
Synod  of  the  Emperor  himself  and  of  the  whole  of  Europe,  even  if 
they  do  not  possess  all  the  qualities  necessary  to  constitute  them 
good  ministers,  they  take  care  to  be  outwardly  all  that  they 
should  be. 

THE    MATCH-MAKER. 

The  match-maker  is  the  intimate  friend  of  all  parents  who  have 
children  to  marry  and  of  young  lovers  of  both  sexes.  She  is  always 
on  the  outlook,  and  knows  how  to  guess  the  inclination  of  her  cus- 


iv       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


tomers  and  the  best  time  to  commence  operations.  The  custom  is 
that  neither  the  parents  nor  the  young  people  should  show  that  the 
latter  desire  to  contract  a  marriage  ;  in  fact,  they  pretend  entire 
ignorance  on  the  subject.  "  Well,  Ivan  Ivanitch,"  says  the  match- 
maker to  the  father,  "  you  have  the  goods  and  I  have  the  buyer  ; 
do  you  not  think  it  is  time  to  find  a  place  for  Machinka?  Come 
St.  Alexander's  Day  (the  holy  man)  she  will  have  attained  her 
tenth  year,  with  six  added  to  her.  What  say  you?"  "  Why,  I 
don't  say  no  if  my  daughter  says  yes.  Speak  to  her.  It  is  her 
business,  not  mine.  I  am  an  old  man  now,  and  have  forgotten  all 
about  these  sorts  of  things."  Now,  the  match-maker  knows  very 
well  that  Machinka  is  in  love  with  the  young  Andevrimkoff,  her 
uncle's  clerk.  "  Come,  Ivan  Ivanitch,  the  thing  is  very  well  as  it 
is;  Machinka  won't  say  no,  you'll  see."  "Very  well,"  says  the 
old  man,  "  tell  me  who  is  the  predestined  engaged  one  ?  Who  is 
he?  the  brave  fellow,  and  where  is  he?"  "Guess,"  says  she. 
The  old  man  names  all  the  young  men  he  knows  without  ever 
mentioning  the  right  one,  although  he  is  perfectly  aware  all  the 
time  who  he  is  ;  but  such  is  the  usage.  At  last  the  match-maker 
names  him  and  adds:  "Marriages  are  made  in  heaven,  you 
know." 

When  all  this  is  settled  they  send  for  the  mother,  and  the  same 
scene  is  repeated,  with  this  difference — that  she  bursts  into  tears 
when  she  gives  her  consent.  And  now  takes  place  the  third  scene 
of  the  first  act.  The  young  lady  is  sent  for.  The  match-maker 
begins  by  making  a  long  speech,  in  which  she  describes  the  happi- 
ness of  the  marriage  state,  particularly  the  quiet  happiness  of  the 
young  lady's  own  parents  ;  speaks  of  the  blessings  of  God  that  had 
evidently  been  bestowed  upon  them  in  the  gift  of  children.  She 
then  continues  to  tell  of  the  pleasures  of  becoming  a  mother,  of 
parental  love  and  of  the  way  in  which  the  young  lady's  parents 
had  brought  up  their  daughter,  and  concludes  by  a  serious  exhor- 
tation to  respect  and  obey  her  parents.  All  this  time  Machinka  is 
standing  before  the  tribunal,  listening  with  downcast  eyes  and 
blushing  cheeks.  The  foregoing  scenes  are  then  acted  over  again, 
and  Machinka  does  not  succeed  any  more  than  her  parents  in  find- 
ing out  the  young  gentleman's  name.  At  last  the  match-maker 
declares  it.  If  he  is  accepted  by  the  young  lady  she  throws  her- 
self at  her  parents  feet  and  declares  she  never  wishes  to  leave 


To  the    Volga. 


them,  but  that,  if  it  is  her  destiny,  she  is  willing  to  desire  theic 
blessing. 

The  father  then  sends  for  the  members  of  his  household,  even  to 
the  janitor  of  the  building  ;  all  sit  down  and  remain  perfectly  still 
for  a  moment  ;  they  then  rise,  say  a  prayer  mentally,  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  and  the  father  declares  to  all  present  that  his 
daughter  is  asked  in  marriage  ;  that  she  has  accepted  the  offer 
because  she  believes  it  to  be  her  destiny  and  the  will  of  God  ; 
finally  he  gives  her  his  blessing.  All  then  congratulate  the  parents 
of  the  young  lady.  Everybody  sheds  tears  at  the  thought  of  the 
separation  and  bowing  leave  the  room. 

The  family  now  remain  alone  with  the  match-maker  to  treat  of 
the  marriage  outfit ;  the  parents  ask  what  the  young  man  has, 
although  they  know  very  well ;  but  it  is  the  custom.  Then  the 
match-maker  begins:  "Well,  Ivan  Ivanitch,  you  give  the  princi- 
pal bundle  of  goods,  but  what  do  you  give  into  the  bargain  ?  " 
"  Hum  !  "  says  the  old  man,  "  the  goods  I  furnish  are  so  good  that 
I  consider  anything  else  useless.  Let  us  first  know  what  the  future 
husband  has."  The  match-maker  then  mentions,  one  after  the 
other,  everything  the  gentleman  is  to  bring  towards  housekeeping. 
The  father  listens  and  enumerates  all  he  is  to  give  his  daughter, 
and  begins  thus  :  "  A  large  double  bed,  complete."  The  match- 
maker says;  "  It  is  the  custom;"  the  young  lady  blushes,  the 
mother  sighs.  The  father  continues:  "Two  marten  sable  cloaks, 
one  of  fox  fur,  fifteen  Lyons  silk  and  satin  dresses,  ten  real  Paris 
bonnets,  twelve  pairs  of  shoes,  three  chemises,  one  nightgown  and 
one  petticoat,"  etc.  After  many  observations  on  both  sides,  every- 
thing is  concluded.  The  day  is  appointed  for  the  young  couple  to 
be  presented  to  each  other.  They  then  separate.  The  next  day 
the  bride's  family  go  to  church  to  give  thanks  for  the  marriage  in 
prospect,  which  they  must  now  make  known  to  their  friends  and 
relations. 

THE  FIRST  KISS. 

When  the  bridegroom  is  presented  the  whole  house  is  in  confu- 
sion. All  the  relations,  friends  and  neighbors  on  both  sides  are  in- 
vited to  the  house  of  the  bride.  When  all  the  expected  company 
are  assembled  the  match-maker  comes  in,  leading  the  bridegroom 


vi       From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


by  the  hand,  and  going  straight  to  the  head  of  the  house,  presents 
him.  The  father  first,  then  the  mother,  kisses  him.  The  bride's 
father  then  leads  the  young  man  to  a  table  covered  with  a  white 
cloth.  On  the  table  is  a  silver  salver,  with  a  loaf  of  bread  on  it, 
and  on  the  bread  a  salt-cellar,  with  salt.  Two  rings — one  of  gold, 
the  other  of  silver — are  placed  on  a  small  silver  tray  before  a  gol- 
den image  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  holding  the  Child  Jesus  in  her  arms. 
With  this  image  they  bless  the  future  couple.  All  the  company 
stand,  the  mother  holding  the  bride,  completely  dressed  in  white, 
by  the  hand,  surrounded  by  all  her  dearest  friends  and  compan- 
ions. All  bow  before  the  image.  The  father  takes  the  image,  the 
mother  the  bread  and  salt  ;  the  young  couple  then  kneel  under  the 
image,  and  are  first  blessed  by  the  father,  the  latter  then  takes  the 
bread  and  salt  from  the  hands  of  the  mother  and  gives  her  the 
image,  and  the  same  ceremony  is  repeated.  After  this  the  father 
and  mother  of  the  bridegroom  do  the  like.  Then  comes  the  giving 
of  the  rings  ;  the  bride's  father  gives  the  golden  ring  to  the  bride- 
groom, the  silver  one  to  the  bride.  They  are  now  affianced  to 
each  other,  and  give  each  other  the  first  kiss.  When  the  ceremony 
is  over,  the  company  enjoy  themselves;  they  chat,  laugh,  eat  and 
drink,' and  separate  after  having  fixed  the  day  for  the  marriage. 
During  the  interval  between  the  ceremony  and  the  marriage  the 
bridegroom  spends  all  his  evenings  with  his  bride,  often  t<jte-a- 
tete. 

THE  CEREMONY. 

Then  follows  the  marriage  ceremony.  It  is  also  called  the  coro- 
nation, because,  during  the  ceremony,  a  crown  is  placed  on  the 
heads  of  the  affianced.  Then  the  priest  offers  them  a  cup  of  wine, 
of  which  they  both  drink,  as  a  sign  of  the  union  they  have  con- 
tracted. A  solemn  procession  is  led  by  the  officiating  priest,  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  following  him  round  the  desk  placed  in  the 
center  of  the  church,  upon  which  is  laid  the  Bible.  This  is  meant 
to  represent  the  joys  which  await  them,  the  ties  which  they  con- 
tract and  the  eternity  of  these  ties.  During  the  public  celebration 
of  the  marriage  the  rings  worn  by  the  young  people  are  exchanged, 
the  husband  now  wearing  the  silver  one,  the  bride  the  golden. 
From  the  church  the  company  is  invited  to  the  house  of  the  bride- 


To  the    Volga.  vii 


groom's  father.  A  week  after  they  return  to  church,  when  the 
priest  lifts  the  crown  from  their  heads.  This  is  the  final  consecra- 
tion of  marriage. 

All  the  clergy  that  assisted  at  the  blessing  in  the  church  expect 
to  partake  of  the  marriage  feast.  When  rich  merchants  marry 
their  children  they  spare  nothing  to  make  the  ceremony  splendid. 
Generally  the  carriage  that  takes  them  to  the  church  is  gilt,  and 
drawn  by  four,  sometimes  six,  horses — beautiful  dappled  grays. 
The  marriage  over,  the  bride  is  taken  home  to  her  new  family. 
The  coachman  and  the  postillions  are  often  richly  dressed  in  azure 
velvet,  with  gold  or  gilt  buttons ;  their  belts  and  the  ribbons 
streaming  from  their  hats  are  all  gold  galoons.  The  reins  of  the 
horses,  as  well  as  their  manes,  are  dotted  with  bunches  of  pink 
and  blue  ribbons  ;  two  huge  men  servants,  with  round  hats,  livery 
coats  and  knee-breeches,  dazzling  with  blue  and  gold,  are  perched 
behind  the  carriage.  This  equipage  hired  for  the  occasion,  costs 
not  less  than  $200,  but  custom  will  have  it  so. 

THE  FEAST. 

The  banquet  is  ordered  at  some  fashionable  confectioner's. 
Nothing  is  wanting — silver,  crystal,  flowers  and  lusters  laden  with 
candles  of  the  purest  wax.  The  most  perfect  order  reigns  at  these 
repasts.  The  finest  wines  flow  in  abundance,  and  music  plays 
from  time  to  time  during  the  whole  repast.  The  young  married 
pair  occupy  seats  about  the  middle  of  the  table,  the  parents  sup- 
porting them  on  both  sides— the  rest  of  the  company  take  seats  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  of  relationship  or  rank.  If  they  want  a  very 
grand  dinner,  they  order  a  "  General's  "  dinner,  which  costs  $30 
more  than  an  ordinary  one.  At  this  dinner,  so  ordered,  the  master 
of  ceremonies  invites  a  real  old  pensioned  off  General,  who  is 
received  with  all  the  reverence  due  to  his  rank,  and  seated  in  the 
place  of  honor.  He  is  the  first  to  drink  the  health  of  the  young 
couple,  and  is  always  helped  before  anyone  else.  He  never  speaks 
unless  it  is  absolutely  necessary.  He  is  there  only  for  show,  and 
he  does  his  best,  in  return  for  the  $20  paid  him  for  his  presence,  to 
eat  and  drink  as  much  as  he  can.  He  is  accosted,  when  hcl|>c.l  to 
anything,  arack  or  wine,  as  your  Excellency.  He  never  refuses  a 
single  dish  of  all  the  thirty  or  more  served  on  such  occasions. 


Vin     From  the  Land  of  the  Mid/right  Sun 


These  dinners  are  always  served  after  the  French  fashion.  As  the 
last  roast  disappears  from  the  table,  the  champagne  corks  fly,  the 
glasses  are  filled  to  the  brim,  the  music  strikes  up,  and  huzzahs 
resound  from  all  parts.  But  here  comes  the  bride's  father,  with 
glass  in  hand,  going  up  to  her  bowing,  and  making  a  most  woeful 
face,  saying  that  his  wine  was  so  bitter  that  he  could  not  drink  it 
until  she  had  sweetened  it.  After  a  great  deal  of  pressing  she  rises 
and  gives  her  husband  a  kiss;  her  father  still  pretends  that  his 
wine  is  bitter,  and  it  remains  so  until  she  has  given  her  husband 
three  kisses  ;  each  kiss  not  only  sweetens  his  wine,  but  is  accom- 
panied with  roars  of  laughter  and  bursts  of  applause.  After  dinner 
comes  the  ball  and  "  general's  walk."  They  lead  him  through  all 
the  rooms  once  every  half  hour,  everybody  salutes  him  as  he 
passes  along  and  he  graciously  replies  by  an  inclination  of  the  head. 
At  last,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  all  the  young  girls  and  those 
who  dressed  the  bride  take  her  away,  to  undress  her  and  put  her 
to  rest ;  the  men  do  the  same  by  the  husband.  The  next  morning 
the  house  of  the  newly  married  couple  is  again  filled  with  the 
crowds  of  the  evening  before.  The  young  wife  is  seated  in  a 
drawing-room  on  a  sofa  with  a  splendid  tea  service  before  her. 
One  after  the  other  approaches,  salutes  her  and  asks:  "  Have  you 
slept  well,  madam  ?  Do  you  feel  rested  after  the  fatigues  of  the 
last  night  ?  "  She  then  offers  tea,  coffee  or  chocolate,  according  to 
the  taste  of  the  visitor.  She  is  throned  for  the  first  time  in  all 
splendor  as  the  mistress  of  the  house.  The  most  intimate  friends 
remain  to  spend  the  day  with  the  young  pair.  A  week  after  the 
marriage  the  wife's  family  gives  a  series  of  dinner  parties,  evening 
parties  and  balls.  These  fotes  sometimes  last  fora  fortnight,  or 
even  three  weeks  or  a  month,  and  so  the  young  people  gradually 
subside  into  their  ordinary  every-day  life. 


III. 


HOW  THE  RUSSIANS  KEEP  WARM. 

Jl  he  Russians  have  a  great  knack  of  making  their  winter  pleas- 
ant. You  feel  nothing  of  the  cold  in  those  tightly  built  houses 
where  all  doors  and  windows  are  double,  and  where  the  rooms  are 
kept  warm  by  big  stoves  hidden  in  the  walls.  There  is  no  damp  in 


1\>  the    Vola. 


a  Russian  house,  and  the  inmates  may  dress  indoors  in  the  lightest 
gards.  which  contrast  oddly  with  the  mass  of  furs  and  wraps  they 
don  when  going  out.  A  Russian  can  afford  to  run  no  risk  of 
exposure  when  he  leaves  the  house  for  a  walk  or  drive.  He  cov- 
ers his  head  and  ears  with  a  fur  bonnet,  his  feet  and  legs  with  felt 
boots  lined  with  wool  or  fur,  which  are  drawn  over  the  ordinary 
boots  and  trousers,  and  reach  up  to  the  knees  ;  he  nexl  cloaks  him- 
self in  a  top  coat  with  a  fur  collar,  lining  and  cuffs  ;  he  buries  his 
hands  in  a  pair  of  fingerless  gloves  of  seal  or  bear  skin.  Thus 
equipped,  and  with  the  collar  of  his  coat  raised  all  around  so  that 
it  muffles  him  up  to  the  eyes,  the  Russian  exposes  only  his  nose  to 
the  cold  air  ;  and  he  takes  care  frequently  to  give  that  organ  a  little 
rub  to  keep  the  circulation  going.  A  stranger  who  is  apt  to  forget 
the  precaution,  would  often  get  his  nose  frozen  if  it  were  not  for 
the  courtesy  of  the  Russians,  who  will  always  warn  him  if  they 
see  his  nose  "  whitening,"  and  will,  unbidden,  help  him  to  chafe  it 
vigorously  with  snow.  In  Russian  cities  walking  is  just' possible 
for  men  during  the  winter,  but  hardly  so  for  ladies.  The  women 
of  the  lower  order  wear  knee  boots  ;  those  of  shopping  class  sel- 
dom venture  out  at  all  ;  those  of  the  aristocracy  go  out  in  sleighs. 
The  sleighs  are  by  no  means  pleasant  vehicles  for  nervous  people, 
for  the  Kalmuck  coachmen  drive  them  at  such  a  terrific  pace  that 
they  frequently  capsize. 

RUSSIAN    FINANCES. 

The  Russian  budget  was  never  known  to  show  a  surplus.  That 
of  1882,  just  made  public,  showsa  deficit  of  nearly  $4,000,000,  which 
is,  however,  an  improvement  over  former  years.  The  expenditures 
for  railroads  during  the  year  was  about  $12,000,000,  incurred  by 
the  pushing  of  the  system  of  Russia  proper  into  the  Russian  pos- 
sessions in  Turkestan.  Of  the  total  expenditures  of  $355.580.000. 
the  army  and  navy  consumed  $117,000,000,  which,  considering  the 
vastness  of  the  forces  kept  up,  is  lower  than  the  cost  of  our  own 
military  and  naval  forces.  The  Russian  revenue  has  fallen  off  in 
respect  to  the  tax  on  alcoholic  liquor,  very  largely  owing  to  the 
decrease  in  consumption  following  the  increase  of  the  tax  on  liquors 
forty  per  cent.  Usually  the  receipts  from  this  source  are  about 
$120,000,000,  and  they  have  fallen  off  one-third.  For  many  years 
the  Russian  police  were  employed  forcing  the  people  to  spend 


x         From  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun 


their  money  in  the  brandy  shops  and  get  drunk,  so  that  the  govern- 
ment might  be  benefited  by  the  revenue.  Prince  Dolgoroukoff 
relates  that  he  had  seen  policemen  dragging  people  by  main  force 
into  the  liquor  shops  to  get  them  drunk.  That  is  an  original  way 
of  securing  revenue  for  the  Czar's  government.  The  Russian 
finances  were  very  much  disordered  by  the  war  with  Turkey,  which 
cost  $600,000,000  or  $700,000,000,  and  was  accompanied  by  vast  issues 
of  paper  currency  which  depreciated  rapidly.  The  public  debt  of 
Russia  is  believed  to  be  about  $2,000,000,000,  and  is  not  probable 
that  it  will  be  reduced,  as  Russia  is  not  likely  to  abandon  the  old 
Petrine  policy  of  possessing  a  Mediterranean  littoral,  which  in- 
volves European  war,  and  she  is  at  a  continual  and  increasing 
cxpence,  strengthening  her  power  and  lines  of  communication 
from  the  Ural  mountains  t<>  the  Pacific  ocean — an  empire  vast  and 
full  of  resources,  wich  some  day  will  overshadow  Russia  in  Europe 
in  importance. 

DURATION  OF  LIFE  IN  RUSSIA. 

The  paucity  of  medical  men  in  Russia,  writes  a  correspondent, 
and  the  habits  of  the  rural  population  combine  to  make  the  Russian 
death  rate  the  highest  in  Europe.  Excepting  the  two  capitals, 
where  there  are  many  German  physicians,  there  is  no  district  in  the 
empire  sufficiently  supplied  with  doctors.  According  to  the  latest 
leturns,  the  average  duration  of  life  in  Russia  is  only  twenty- 
six  years.  The  mortality  among  infants  is  frightful.  More 
than  sixty  per  cent  die  before  they  reach  their  fifth  year.  Nearly 
two  million  children  perish  every  year.  Of  eight  million  boys, 
only  three  million  seven  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  attain  the 
age  of  military  service — that  is  to  say,  their  twenty-fifth  year  ;  and 
of  these  at  least  one  million  are  found,  by  reason  of  shortness  of 
stature  and  weakness  of  body,  unfit  for  military  duty. 

RAILROADS  IN  RUSSIA. 

Many  officials  there  are  at  every  station  dressed  in  uniforms. 
The  railroads  are  owned  by  the  government,  and  it  seems  as  if 
every  country  would  be  ruined  by  the  numerous  officials.  Rail- 
roads are  extending  all  over  Russia,  and  the  Czar  has  extensive 
plans  according  to  accounts  on  hand,  with  the  Czar  as  its  most  en- 
thusiastic promoter.  The  proposal  is  to  build  eleven  thousand 


To  the    Volga.  xi 


seven  hundred  miles  of  railroad  in  two  trunk  lines,  one  starting 
from  lekaterinenberg  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Ural  mountains 
and  running  through  Siberia  to  Vakutak  and  Nikolajen,  with  a 
branch  connecting  with  China  and  the  region  of  the  Amoor  river  ; 
while  the  second  line  is  to  begin  at  Astrachan,  connect  with  Persia, 
Hcr.it  in  Afghanistan  and  India,  and  have  a  branch  to  Bokhara  and 
by  way  of  Kashgar  to  Central  Asia.  The  idea  is  to  employ  the 
army  in  the  construction  of  the  roads  in  times  of  peace,  and  it  is 
judged  that  the  work  will  occupy  twenty  years.  There  is  thus  no 
need  of  immediate  worry  as  to  Russia's  object  in  undertaking  so 
stupendous  a  task,  if  it  really  seriously  contemplates  it.  It  defines 
its  own  purpose  as  the  development  of  its  agriculture  and  com- 
merce by  a  net-work  c.f  railroads  like  that  of  the  United  States. 
The  people  who  are  continually  foreseeing  Russia's  seizure  of  India 
from  Great  Britain  are,  however,  already  declaring  that  this  pro- 
ject has  a  strategic  significance  ;  that  it  is  of  a  piece  with  the  Mery 
country,  and  that  the  Pacific  part  of  the  scheme  is  but  a  blind  to 
facilitate  the  construction  of  a  railroad  south  which  would  permit 
the  quick  concentration  of  large  bodies  of  troops  upon  Afghanistan, 
Persia  and  Asiatic-Turkey. 

In  1882  Russia's  expenditure  for  railroads  was  twelve  millions  of 
dollars,  incurred  by  pushing  the  system  of  Russia  proper  into  the 
Russian  possessions  in  Turkestan. 


U'ELCH,    FK ACKER    COMPANY'S 


Recent   Publications. 


"  -- K*e-r,T»;  •-;- 


From  "IN   WESTERN  LEVANT. 


THE  MASTERPIECE  OF  THE   BOOK-MAKER'S  ART. 


NOW     READY 


FRANCIS    C.    SESSIONS 

President  ef  the   Ohio   Arclneological  and  Historical  Society 


With  over  Fifty  Vignette  Illustrations  by 
HENRY  W.  HALL 

Printed  on  Warren  coated  paper,  title  page  in  colors,  exquisitely 
bound,  with  parchment  label  title,  gilt  top,  etc. 

Author,  artist,  and  designer  have  combined  successfully  to  make 

this  the  most  superb  product  of  exclusively  American  talent 

that  has  yet  been   placed  upon   the  market. 

i2mo.    Cloth.  $1.50,  post-paid. 


INTO   MOROCCO 

\ 
FROM     THE    FRENCH    OF 

PIERRE     LOTI. 


ILLfSTRATED    BV 


Benjamin  Constant  ami  Aime  Morot. 

I2I110,  ClOtll,   81.2-,. 


EXTRACTS  FROM    THE  PRESS. 

"  The  hit  of  the^ear  !  '"—State  Journal. 

"  Full  of  color,  picturesqueness  and  charming  descrip- 
tion." Front  column  revi'm1  in  X.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  A  famous  book." — AVw  Orleans  Picayune. 

"  Rising  from  the  perusal  of  these  sparkling  pages,  the 
reader  feels  as  if  under  the  lingering  influence  of  some  wild 
dream," — Front  a  three-column  reviw  in  the  Hartford 
Times. 

t  "A  very  clever  and  readable  volume  by  one  of  the  most 
unhackneyed,  entertaining  and  imaginative  of  living 
writers."— -V.  1".  Sun. 

'' '  Into  Morocco '  is  vivid  in  rich  word-coloring,  and  every 
page  charms  \v;th  its  quaint  attractiveness."—^,?/;  Fran- 
cisco Post. 


•'  Loti's  account  of  travel  into  the  interior  of  that  country 
by  no  means  lessens  the  feeling  of  mystery,  but  rather  en- 
hances it.  He  seems  to  have  pursued  his  researches  in  a 
sort  of  dream,  and  while  observing  closely  and  describing 
clearly  all  he  saw  and  heard,  yet  conveys  throughout  his 
book  that  same  atmosphere  of  unreality  and  delicious  lan- 
guor, and  one  lays  the  book  down  with  a  sigh  at  having 
completed  its  perusal,  and  with  the  brain  filled  with  visions 
of  white-robed  veiled  figures,  tents,  hot,  sandy  deserts,  and 
long  trains  of  silently  moving  camels.  It  is  an  enchanting 
book,  and  the  picturesque  illustrations  add  not  a  little  to  its 
charms. — Mihva  ukee  Sentinel. 

"  Only  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  deep  poetic  feel- 
ing and  power  of  description  of  Pierre  Loti,  can  obtain  any 
conception  of  the  character  of  this  book  without  reading  it. 
Readers  who  love  the  romantic,  will  be  delighted  with  the 
book." — Cleveland  Leader. 

"  Loti  is,  above  all  else,  a  literary  colorist,  and  the  pic- 
tures are  wonderfully  warm,  sensuous  and  glowing." — 
Chicago  Times. 

"  Mr.  Loti  has  an  artist's  eye  for  the  picturesque."— 
Milwaukee  Wisconsin. 

"  Rich  in  quotable  extracts,  for  on  every  page  is  a  pic- 
ture worth  impressing  on  the  memory  for  its  beauty.  It  is 
vivid  and  inspiring. — Chronicle^  San  Francisco. 

"A  famous  book,  intensely  interesting,  beautifully  illus- 
trated."— New  Orleans  Picayune. 

"Delightful  reading." — Toledo  Blade. 

"  Sure  of  welcome.  It  is  a  series  of  emotions  deeply  felt, 
exquisitely  translated." — Boston  Transcript. 

"  Full  of  charm  ;  not  an  effect  is  lost.     We  wish  we  had  ' 
space  to  quote  at  fuller  length  from  this  fascinating  book." 
— Boston  Literary  ll'orld. 

"  One  of  the  most  fascinating  books  of  travel  that  has  ap- 
peared this  year." — The  H'riter,  Boston. 

"  A  book  of  sunshine." — Chicago  Herald. 


From   -THE    BANK   TRAGEDY." 


The  Delightful  Tale  of  Freijclj  Life  and  Manners 

E x PI A  T I  o N 


BY  TH.   BENTZON 


ADMIRABLY      TRANSLATED 


I2>no.      ?f  cents. 


"Far  ahead  of  [its  fellows  in  theme  and  general  treat- 
ment."—  World  Herald,  Omaha. 

"  Attractive,  clear,  smooth  and  free.  The  interest  deep- 
ens."— Times,  Chicago. 

"  A  charming  novel,  and  a  welcome  addition  to  the  store 
of  first-class  works." — Morning  Chronicle. 

"  A  beautiful  example  of  life  displayed.  The  plot  is  in- 
teresting, and  characters  strongly  drawn." — Chicago  Tri- 
bune. 

"  An  admirable  story." — Albany  Argus. 

"  Charming  and  graceful."— Boston  Literary  World. 

"  It  will  be  found  delightful'" — Geyer's  Stationer. 


A    FLORENTINE    CHURCH. 

From  "  On  the  II 'ing  Through  Jiuro 


"  ON  THE  WING  THROUGH  EUROPE,  by  F.  C.  Sessions, 
Esq..  is  a  modest  and  well  written  account  of  what  a  less 
accurate  man  would  not  have  seen,  and  a  clearly  given  de- 
scription of  what  a  sensible  and  thoughtful  pair  of  eyes  did 
see  in  Europe.  The  exceedingly  good  taste,  which  is  evi- 
dent on  every  page,  is  added  to  full  and  complete  mention 
of  what  one  most  wants  to  read  about,  and  yet  finds  so  little 
written  about,  as  related  to  these  topics.  The  binding  is  in 
harmony  with  the  plan  and  execution  of  the  whole  volume." 
— Home  Journal. 

"  They  are  written  with  a  remarkable  grace,  ease  and 
clearness  of  style.  His  mind  quickly  seizes  the  salient 
points  of  interest  and  besides  penetrates  into  regions  not  so 
often  described  by  the  ordinary  traveler.  It  is  a  very  inter- 
esting and  instructive  little  book,  and  reveals  the  author 
as  a  man  of  vigorous  intellect,  keen  observation,  deep  sym- 
pathy and  excellent  powers  of  description." — Adams,  Mass., 
Transcript. 

"  While  written  modestly,  simply  and  with  no  effort  at 
vivid  description,  it  does  more  to  place  the  scenes,  incidents 
and  historic  associations  of  a  tour  through  the  British  Isles 
and  on  the  continent  of  Europe  before  the  reader  intelli- 
gently, than  any  similar  work  we  have  ever  seen.  The 
engravings  are  fine,  and  two  letters  of  Rev.  Dr.  Hutchins 
on  famous  English  Divines,  add  greatly  to  the  value  of 
the  book." — Cincinnati  Herald. 

"  The  letters  are  well  written,  and  the  descriptions  of 
scenery,  incidents,  etc.,  are  peculiarly  interesting,  showing 
that  Mr.  Sessions  has  been  a  careful  observer.  *  *  * 
The  book  is  an  exceedingly  handsome  one  in  printing 
and  binding,  and  the  elegant  illustrations  it  contains  add 
very  much  to  its  value  and  interest.  We  can  cordially  com- 
mend the  work  to  our  readers.  It  should  have  a  very  large 
and  general  circulation." — Dispatch. 


"  It  is  entirely  unpretentious,  and  written  in  a  lively  and 
pleasing  style.  A  breezy  freshness  and  evident  sincerity 
•pervade  its  pages,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  learn  what  an  unpre- 
tentious writer  can  make  out  of  the  old  cities  and  time- 
honored  buildings,  the  ancient  rookeries  and  much-travelled 
thoroughfares  of  these  older  lands.  The  printed  text  shows 
good  taste,  and  the  illustrations  add  to  its  value."— Christ- 
ian at  H'ork. 

"  ON  THE  WING  THROUGH  EUROPE  is  the  title  of  just  such  a 
journal  of  a  flying  tour  of  Europe,  during  the  year  of  the 
Paris  Exposition,  as  we  might  expect  from  almost  any  one 
of  our  clear-headed  and  sensible  men  of  business  writing  for 
the  entertainment  of  friends  at  home.  Lively,  concise, 
straightforward,  touching  lightly  but  intelligently  upon  a 
multiplicity  of  topics,  without  falling  into  sentimentality  on 
the  one  hand,  or  lapsing  into  a  too  prosaic  literalness  on  the 
other,  it  is  an  agreeable  and  unaffected  record  of  impressions 
of  travel.  Its  author's  brief  descriptions  of  phases  of 
transatlantic  life,  manners,  customs,  and  scenes,  and  of  me- 
morable places  and  buildings,  are  distinguished  by  the  busi- 
ness man's  faculty  for  close  and  sharp  observation  of  men 
and  things,  and  of  arriving  at  rapid  and  generally  just  con- 
clusions concerning  them." — Harper's  Monthly. 

"  The  vast  material  upon  which  the  traveler  had  to  work 
is  certainly  attractively  and  instructively  used  in  the  narrow 
limits  to  which  he  confined  his  writing.  Not  the  least  at- 
traction of  the  work  is  the  series  of  twenty  fine  engravings, 
certainly  the  finest  illustrations  ever  published  in  a  work 
of  this  kind."—  Times 

"A  series  of  very  sprightly  and  readable  letters  to  the  Ohio 
State  Journal,  and  we  must  say  that  they  have  lost  nothing 
of  their  freshness  and  interest  by  reappearing  in  book  form. 
We  are  reading  it  with  great  pleasure.  The  mechanical 
execution  of  the  work — as  shown  in  letter-press  and  en- 
gravings— is  excellent — very  creditable  to  the  taste  of  the 
publishers. '  '—Springfield  Republic. 


-*^, 

From   "IN   WESTERN   LEVANT," 


NOW    READY. 

BY  WHOSE  HAND? 

A    NOVEL 

BY   EDITH    SESSIONS    TUPPER, 

.4  ut/ior  of  "By  a  Hair's  Breadth"  etc, 

KOBE  STIEEING,  CLEVEE  AMD  VIGOEOUS  THAN  EVEN  EEE 
PEEVIOUS  SUCCESSFUL  NOVELS. 

1.21110,   Paper,   35   Cents. 


ADVANCE  NOTICES: 

"  Edith  Sessions  Tapper's  latest  novel,  '  BY  WHOSE 
HAND,'  is  a  distinct  advance  on  her  previous  work  in  firm- 
ness of  touch  and  method  of  treatment  of  her  subject.  The 
skill  in  plotmaking  which  the  author  manifests  in  a  marked 
degree,  makes  the  novel  a  fascinating  one  for  those  who 
wish  to  peruse  a  work  of  fiction  which  will  hold  the  atten- 
tion to  the  last  paragraph.  As  a  novelist,  Mrs.  Tupper  im- 
proves with  each  work."— N.  Y.  Press. 

"  An  original  romance.  The  sedate  reader  (if  any  such 
remain)  will  find  the  story  somewhat  emotional,  but  will 
acknowledge  its  animation." — Brooklyn  Times. 

"  The  authoress  has  an  imagination  which  is  always 
vivid,  and  sometimes  picturesque."— Kq,te  Fifltfs  Waslt- 


JUST    PUBLISHED 


A  PORTRAIT  IN  CRIMSONS 

-I  brig/it  and  entertaining  Drama-novel. 

CHARLES    EDWARD    BARNS. 
,M/, 


Delicately  printed  on  antique  laid,  bound  in  parch- 
ment paper,  etc.     12010.     35  cents. 

Will  be  widely  read  and  enjoyed  by  all  readers  of 
this  successful  author. 


7rom   "AS  'TIS  IN  LIFE." 


From  "AS   'TIS   IN   LJFE." 


A  STERLING   NOVEL 


The  Chicago  Tribune  Frize  Story. 

By  a  Hair  s  Breadth. 

BY  EDITH  SESSIONS  TUPPER. 

READ  WHAT  THE  PRESS  HAS  TO  SAY  OF  IT. 

"  Her  undoubted  talents  are  of  such  an  order  that  she  may 
reasonably  expect  to  attain  high  rank  among  the  Hedonists 
of  her  time." — Chicago  Herald. 

"  The  authoress  of  this  work  is  a  bright  and  rising  nov- 
elist."— N.  1'.  Press. 

"  The  incidents  are  ingenious  and  well  wrought  together. 
This  work  opens  a  new  field  of  enterprise  to  the  gifted  and 
versatile  authoress."— -Jamestown  Journal. 

"  This  effort  in  the  line  of  romance  shows  her  power. 
Her  pen  is  her  weapon.  She  has  shown  what  she  can  do. 
Her  coming  story,  '  By  Whose  Hand  ?  '  will  be  looked  for 
with  interest It  goes  without  saying  that  every  ad- 
vantage that  the  plot  presents  is  taken.  The  detail  work  of 
the  story  is  above  criticism.  '  From  the  introspective  to  the 
mystical  is  but  a  step.'  This  step  has  been  taken  by  one  of 
the  brightest  women  this  country  has  seen." — Buffalo 
ffewt. 

"  '  By  a  Hair's  Breadth'  is  ingenious,  free  from  affectation, 
and  told  with  a  degree  of  freshness  and  originality."— 
N.  \'.  .Sun. 

"  It  is  the  reportorial  capacity  wonderfully  developed  in 
Robert  Fleming,  the  immensely  clever  reporter,  that  works 
up  the  Paul  Raymond  murder.  '  By  a  Hair's  Breadth  '  has 
merit,  and  Edith  Sessions  Tupper's  hero  knows  by  exper- 
ience the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  plentiful  use  of 
the  blue  lead  pencil." — N  Y.  Times. 

"  One  of  the  brightest  little  stories  that  has  come  to  us  in 
some  time.  A  terse  dramatic  style  combined  with  the  ability 
of  painting  striking  descriptions  with  a  touch  of  the  brush 
shows  that  Mrs.  Tupper  is  an  artist  of  no  mean  ability,  and 
her  future  work  will  be  awaited  with  interest.  Heretofore 
her  work  has  been  confined  to  lyrical  poetry,  but  the  story 
field  should  know  her  soon  again.  ' — Morning Journal. 


YKN'ICK. 
J-'roin   "  On  the  H'/njf  Through  Euro/,?. 


FRACKER    1  <»II»ANY>*» 

EDITIONS  OF 


ffihe  IgKJtrtrfc*  x»f  <£ha*ie*  ©tmrntrfc  t?avn«. 


yf   VENETIAN  STUDY 

IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE: 

A  drama-novel  of  stirring  incident,  clever  intrigue, 
•with  a  plot  of  startling  development,  the  scenes 
shifting  from  Gotham  to  the  city  of  the  Doges. 

DIGBY:  CHESS  PROFESSOR: 

A  happy  and  tiniqite  drama-novel  of  New  York  life, 
the  interest  centering  in  an  exciting  game  of  chess. 

A  DISILLUSIONED  OCCULTIST: 

An  East  Indian  episode,  gathering  interest  from 
a  home-bound  student  of  Hindu  occultisms,  and  the 
recital  of  his  tragic  history. 

THIRTY-FIVE  CENTS  EACH,  POST-PAID. 


THE  AMARANTH  AND  THE  BERYL  : 

A  volume  of  poetical  works. 

SOLITARIUS  TO  HIS  DAEMON: 

Thoughts  and  reflections  of  a  thinker  in  search  of 

new  truths  in  nature  and  the  heart  of  man. 

\2rno.  Bond  parchment-paper  binding,  exquisitely 

printed  on  antique  laid  paper,  with 

engraved  title-pages,  etc. 

FIFTY  CENTS  PER  COPY. 
NOW     RE  ADY. 


1'HE  PITH  OF  A  FEW  ADVANCE 

PRESS  NOTICES: 


u  Barns'  works  appeal  to  the  more  thoughtful  class  c,f 
readers."— Me  rcu  ry. 

"  These  poems  are  the  rtoduct  of  a  deep  dramatic  in- 
stinct. . .  .  '  Solitarius  to  his  Daemon '  is  an  excellent  prose 
work." —  Telegram. 

"  Mr.  Barns'  writings  show  the  man  of  thought  and 
culture  .  .  .  Solitarius  is  a  work  worthy  of  admiration.  In 
this  his  talents  show  to  advantage.'1— Journal. 

"  A  work  of  high  philosophy." — Press. 

"  They  touch  a  responsive  chord,  and  furnish  food  for 
many  a  fanciful  reverie." — News  and  Courier. 

"  Vigorous,  equally  clever,  and  abounding  in  the  re- 
sul's  of  much  reading  and  thinking." — Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  Barns  is  a  delightful  essayist,  and  between  his  well- 
rounded  periods  is  a  rich  mine  of  thought  and  philosophy, 
expressed  in  a  most  pleasing  and  impressive  form.  One  of 
those  books  which  is  as  pleasing  in  a  second  reading  as  in  the 

first.  .  .  .The  poems  are  full  of  genius  of  the  true  point 

Our  readers  will  find  in  these  books  a  surprise  and  a  de- 
light."— Christian  at  Work. 

"  These  drama-novels  display  much  curious  learning  and 
a  quaint  humor." — N,  Y.  Sun. 

"  These  works  will  prove  a  valuable  addition  to  any 
library." — San  Francisco  Call. 


hrom   "IN    WESTERN    LEVANT." 


"  Barns  has  a  fertile  pen.  His  drama-novels  are  pro- 
fv.se  in  popular  character,  story  and  learning,  written  with 
marvellous  fluency.". .  .—Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  Barns  is  capable  of  excellent  word-painting,  admira- 
ble technique,  and  moreover,  a  noticeably  sweet  and  tender 
versification. . .  .Many  of  the  poems  combine  a  vigorous  and 
rich  harmony  with  virility  and  manly  sentiment." — Phila- 
delph  fa  Transcript. 

"  In  spite  of  many  defects,  it  is  more  than  borne  upon 
the  reader  that  here  are  books  with  a  genuine  message  for 
the  world.  The  writer  is  humble,  earnest  and  hopeful ;  not 
daunted  by  conventions,  nor  driven  into  mistaking  them  for 
truths,  but  yet  respectful  of  them,  acknowledging  their  place 
in  the  world.  His  reading  has  been  wide,  if  not  indeed  pro- 
found, and  has  furnished  him  with  a  rich  treasury  of  refer- 
ence and  allusion,  and  more  than  all,  he  is  a  sturdy  promoter 
of  manliness, — a  virtue  more  than  slightly  underrated  by 
many  of  his  contemporaries. ...Barns  will  find  many  read- 
ers. "—Boston  Herald. 

"  Rarns'  books  are  unique,  exciting,  and  beautiful 
specimens  of  their  art." — Phila.  North  American. 

"  They  cannot  but  be  appreciated  by  all  who  seek  real 
literary  gems." — San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

"  A  new  writer  has  sprung  into  enviable  prominence — 
a  young  poet ,  philosopher,  and  novelist,  who  has  produced  a 
series  of  volumes  sufficiently  original  in  thought  and  admir- 
able in  quality  to  merit  the  above  titles These  writings 

have  been  remarkably  amiably  handled  by  the  critics  through- 
out the  country,  considering  that  they  abound  in  crudities 
and  literary  faults  ;  but  they  are  the  errors  of  a  genius.  Not 
a  single  page  of  his  books  but  bears  an  individuality  not  to  be 

mistaken A  sincere  student  of  nature  in  all  itsphases.  As 

Barns  is  young,  and  has  had  exceptional  advantages  as  re- 
gards study  and  travel,  there  is  no  reason  why,  with  his  tal- 
ents, he  should  not  become  an  important  factor  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  country- •  ,."—New  York  Graphic. 


AMSTERDAM. 

Protn  "  On  the  U'ing  Through  Europe." 


A     MOROCCAN'    WELL 


"  '  Solitarius'  is  a  series  of  thoughtful,  quaintly  writ- 
ten essays These  drama-novels  are  readable  and  pleasing 

productions  by  an  author  who  revels  in  the  eccentric The 

volumes  are  choice  in  design,  and  are  the  very  flower  of  the 
printer's  art." — New  Orleans  Picayune. 

"  These  productions  are  thoroughly  unique. "—Chi- 
cago Inter-Ocean. 

"  The  drama-novels  are  awake  and  alive ;  and  that  is 
no  small  virtue  when  so  many  published  books  are  torpid. . . 
'  The  Venetian  Study  '  is  logical  and  impressive.  The  works 
of  this  author  must  be  regarded  as  very  promising." — Boston 
Herald. 

"  The  drama-novels  are  capital  stories,  well  told,  and 
equally  brilliant." — Evening  Telegram. 

"  Barns  is  both  a  philosopher  and  a  poet.  His  prose  is 
stately,  strong,  and  graceful ;  his  poems  are  exalted  in  tone, 

majestic  in  style The  drama-novels  are  the  productions 

of  a  master  of  English,  an  artist  in  description,  and  display 

a  rare  versatility This  young  author's  work  is  introduced 

to  the  public  in  a  most  attractive  form.... The  series  is  of 
great  value."— Minneapolis  Journal. 

*  "  Barns  is  thoroughly  in  earnest,  and  is  tilled  with  the 
consciousness  of  the  solemnity  of  his  mission,  and  of  the  ur- 
gent need  there  is  in  the  world  for  the  truth  his  art  would 

teach The  poems  show  a  true,  workmanlike  touch,  and 

'  Solitarius '  is  a  work  of  truth  and   brilliancy."— Chicago 
Tribune. 

"  The  author  of  these  books  has  read  much,  travelled 
widely,  and  thought  deeply,  and  is  enabled  to  use  these  con- 
ditions with  effect  in  his  writings  which  are  elevated  in  tone, 
in  philosophy  breathing  a  hopef /I,  independent  spirit,  while 
the  reader  is  not  allowed  to  forget  that  he  is  an  American. .  . 
The  poems  are  distinguished  by  an  elevation  of  sentiment, 
and  a  defin  He  purpose."— Albany  Journal. 


"  Barns  is  a  thoughtful  man  and  a  skilful  workman.  The 
French,  it  is  plain,  have  not  a  monopoly  of  epigrams.  His 
works  are  worth  reading  for  their  thoughtfulness  and  their 
suggestiveness,  a  line  often  standing  for  a  whole  page,  and 
occult  thoughts  are  put  in  so  rational  a  way  as  to  disarm 
criticism  aud  charm  acceptance.  As  to  eccentricities — well, 
who  would  live  forever  in  a  dull,  flat  country." — Christian 
Union. 

"The  versatility  of  this  author  is  shown  by  the  simultaneous 
issue  of  three  volumes  entirely  distinct  in  scope  and  style. 
....  The  novels  show  dramatic  power  and  a  weirdness  of 
imagination.  .  .  The  poems  are  reflective  and  philosophic 
often,  and  show  a  poetic  fancy  combined  with  depth  df 
feeling.  In  '  Solitarius' there  are  scattered  gems  of  thought, 
suggestive  and  inspiring."— Brooklyn  Times. 

"  What  a  drama-novel  is  can  only  be  imagined  by  one 
who  has  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  Mr.  Barns.  .  .  .  They 
are  written  in  a  light  and  amusing  style.  They  are  wel- 
come."— Nassau  Lit.  Review,  Princeton  College. 

"Ambitious  in  its  serious  thoughtfulness.  His  evidei.t 
honesty  and  high  purpose  makes  us  wish  him  all  they 
meri  t. " — Critic. 

"  Well  worthy  all  the  refinements  of  the  book-maker's 
art  which  they  bear.  Satire  and  wisdom  alternate  with 
commonplace  phrases  ;  but  there  is  real  thought  beneath  the 
words,  and  many  of  the  strangest  sentences  are  full  of  sug- 
gestion. Mr.  Barns  has  had  exceptional  advatanges  and 
wide  experience  of  many  kinds  of  life,  and  he  has  evidently 
thought  much  before  he  has  written  at  a\\."— Writer. 

"New  York's  Rising  Litterateur."— Article  in  Chicago 
Herald. 

"  These  several  works  bear  an  individuality  not  to  be 
mistaken.  Of  Mr.  Barns'  critics  the  hypercritical  admit 
that  here  is  an  author  who  gives  extraordinary  promise  of 
the  future."—  The  A  utAor,  Boston. 


. 


"  Ull<*«c^/- 


From   "  AS   'TIS   IN    LIFE. 


'   '  _^* 

Fror.i    "IX   WKSTERN"    J.KVANT.' 


k4C&a*lKSi 


